Like or Dislike: Docklands
 

God help us. :(

OK. So.

Here's my deal with Docklands. If you take out the first verse, it's really a good song. But that friggin' laundromat line...ugh! Unforgivable. The fact that she didn't write this almost makes it worse - like, she CHOSE this song, despite the lyrics. Crappy line, definitely cringeworthy. Written by T. Horn & B. Cook - who are these jokers, anyway? To and fro? Who the hell says to & fro? :rolleyes:

Here are the lyrics that I do enjoy:

"I miss you...more than I thought I could
I need you...more than you know
I was there...when they took you away from me
I'll be there...when they let you go"

I don't think these are the best lines, but I love her vocal delivery of:

"Everybody's pushing...trying to make it happen
I...beg of you...(I) I beg of you...(l) I beg of you..."

and

"Keep your defenses...but don't shut the loving out
You got to learn to carry that weight"


Music - cool beginning, nothing special other than that. I guess the "hold on...hold on..." part is pretty good too.

When I hear a song of this caliber, I think...why not "Julia" instead? :shrug:

This is something I'll never understand. Why is mentioning a laundromat in a song such a no-no?

All this hysteria over the laundromat in "Docklands" (not just you, Paula) reminds me of a couple of seminal moments in art history: Wordsworth's Preface in ... whenever it was ... 1798 or so ... when he deliberately expanded the accepted topics of English poetry to include what was previously considered low or vulgar; & the assent of the "Kitchen Sink" dramatists in England in the 1950s, who brought the realism of the lower middle classes into the theaters.

Why is it so awful for Stevie Nicks to sing a song about characters who are probably working class?

I think we're all just so used to her gothic romance novel-style lyrics about stormy seascapes, castles inhabited by ghostly apparitions, and love affairs with men in dark linen suits, that a song where she's taking on the persona of a working-class character from East London who must engage in mundane tasks such as washing clothes at the laundromat, seems to stick out like a sore thumb.

But your love for this song and your comments about it over the years, have helped me look at it from a different angle, and I've actually grown considerably more fond of it than I used to be.

4 stars. Great live on Street Angel tour.

I've owned SA for 10 yrs and have only listened to this song all the way through twice. Absolutely horrific... :o

The worst Stevie Nicks song ever.. period, dot, end of story..

I like the sound of it. Not so much into the lyrics of this one. I'm one of the 'laundromat' dislikers.

I've always really liked this one, I find it one of the most memorable songs on the album and the lyrics have never bothered me one bit. :nod:

5 stars.

It's a SA song...of course I love it. :xoxo:

That's not it at all. That lyric just sounds odd to me, for some reason. Like, why not the grocery store? Or the dry cleaners? Or the gas station? I like my Stevie a bit more dreamy & not so literal, I suppose. :shrug:

I like it! and I like Jane too! :distress:

Not one of my favorites of all time, but it's one of my favorites on Street Angel. I wont skip it if it randomly plays on iTunes. :)

I wouldn't go that far, but it's pretty bad. It's very weak; the production is extremely muddy, the lyrics are inane (it isn't "laundromat" that bugs me, it's all of the lyrics), and the whole lousy affair comes across as nothing but an attempt to fill album space because she was so creatively bankrupt.

Well, I'll grant you that. The production is way below par, even for a Stevie solo album. There's a big boner in it right smack dab in the opening bass riff. I just picture Stevie & her pal Thom being totally oblivious to that or skipping over it, being unsure as to how to fix it.

Well, Stevie has created this persona for herself that is so far removed from ordinary working class life and struggles it sounds bizarre to hear her singing those lyrics. Never in a million years would she have written something like that herself.
I mean even when Stevie was a "struggling" musician she had daddy giving her a monthly allowance. It just doesn't sound right for her to go from 'I'm a sad little princess' stuff, to blue collar everyday things. IMO of course ;)

Trevor Horn is the genius behind Video Killed The Radio Star. He was in The Buggles and went on to produce the likes of Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Yes, Grace Jones, Pet Shop Boys, Tina Turner, Tatu and Seal.

B. Cook is Betsy Cook, a singer/songwriter who Trevor Horn produced, in fact Docklands was originally on her 1992 album The Girl Who Ate Herself.

I love you Sharon. :xoxo:

Somewhere on the Web is a little anecdote about Stevie & Trevor working together on something.
I have always wanted to hear her version of it, but have never been able to track it down.

Dislike
 

LOL! The last comment was my vote. I see I am not alone.

I do NOT like this song. There is no melody. I hate the lyircs. It makes no sense why she wrote this. Made me think she was living on some shimping boat or something LOL.

One of my favorite songs. It's just a fun song. I love it. It rocks. I don't understand why people hate it... personally I like the fact that it is so different then most of the songs in her catalog.

I LOVE this song and I'm not ashamed to admit it (I'm sure a lot of you aren't surprised at my adoration of this stinker lol). The lyrics are atrocious at times but sometimes when the music is so great I can overlook terrible lyrics. It has such great energy and it's one of those feel good songs to me. It's one of my favorite songs off the SA album and I seriously cannot get enough of it. It has a distinct sound whereas a lot of the songs on the album sound similar IMO.

This is my very favorite part of the song (for the lyric and the music) and sometimes I rewind and just listen to this part again and again and it literally gives me the chills.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm in a foreign land
And there's a mirror I'm looking through
Lost in the place where I was born
Without a hand to hold on to"

*swooon*

For me, Now Im just saying, often, I listen to stevies music, to take me away to that special magical place. Not to remind me, of the daily grind, and the
laundromat. :shocked:

exact-freekin-ly :laugh:

I am so glad this question is here! I haven't listened to SA in AGES, but I woke up Sat. with Docklands in my head! I HAD to go listen to it. There are some really stinky parts, but this song is one of my favs from SA (which I also re-evaluated, and didn't hate MOST of)....kind-of nice to know she didn't write the song...makes more sense now.

Not crazy about this song at all. I don't think the music and vocals flow well together. Just doesn't sound right to me. The lyrics suck too.

Ah, the Klonopine years. *sigh*
Me, personally, though, I really like the
line "and there are thousands of things that I
have dreamed . . .
Gone in the day-light!"

Very "Stevie," and the bitterness she expresses in the last word
is kinda elusive and Nicksian! :shocked: :lol:

But it did kinda make me think, personally -
What has she dreamed of, that could have been
turned into a song, but hasn't been - yet?

There's some sort of quote she made once about her dreams,
but I don't remember it at the mo'.
Basically that she tries to remember her dreams
'cause she feels it's a treasure-trove for lyrics,
and she suggests the same for all would-be writers.

Anyway, at least it's got a supportive, upbeat, "hang-in-there"
message to it. Who knows, maybe it's even been helpful to
someone. The MIRROR reference is kinda interestin', I think! . . . .

You know Curtis, I admire you for always standing up for this album. Good for you. :thumbsup:

In Pittsburgh this past June he told Stevie "I love Street Angel" when she touched his hand. :angel:

He did not! :lol: I'm cracking up in my cube over that one! Curtis, you're too cute!

I just have alot of respect for someone that believes in something that not alot of other people do, including me.

God Bless her, but I bet her first thought was,
"You love WHAT!? WHAT!? Oh yeah, THAT!" :lol:

Well, Curtis said she looked confused when he said it. :laugh: We like to think she couldn't hear him, as opposed to thinking he was crazy.

Who's the crazy one?


"Oh Oh....I touched a legwarmer."

:o


Don't forget I gave her a letter in Cleveland telling her how much I love that album. I'm.a.freak.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

I'd love to hear her singing about working class, the problem I have with this song it's that is boring, predictable, doesn't go anywhere lyrically, and she sung it on the album without a hint of energy. Live was better though.

Romy

No deep meaning behind 'why', but I cannot embrace the "laundromat" thing either (and I've been trying for 10 years!:)). I think "Sister says, 'Brush your hair'" bothers me even more. Other than those bits, though, I really like the song. I do not, however, understand at all its inclusion on the album above Inspiration or God's Garden. I remember in the Mirror, Mirror fanzine they discussed a demo supposedly floating around where Stevie supposedly clearly said "darklands" instead of "docklands". I've never heard such a demo of this song. Does it really exist, or were the authors just hearing what they wanted to? ;)