"Insider" (live) Appreciation Thread
 

I can't handle it..... This song is perma-stuck in my head. Stevie's vocal is soooooo ****ing good- it's to die for....

"You've got a dangerous background....
And everything you've dreamed of-
Yeah, you're the Dark Angel
It don't show when you break up......

And I'm the one who oughta know!!
I'm the one left in the dust...
Yeah, I'm the broken hearted fool...
Who was never quite enough....

I'm an insider......
I've been burned by the fire
And I've had to live with some hard promises
I've crawled through the briars.....

I'm an insider

It's a circle of deception....
It's a hall of strangers-
It's a cage without a key
You can feel the danger......

And I'm the one who oughta know!!
I'm the one left in the dust...
Yeah, I'm the broken hearted fool...
Who was never quite enough....

I'll bet you're his masterpiece.....
I'll bet you're his self-control...
Yeah, you'll become his legacy
His quiet world of white and gold.....

Yeah, and I'm the one who oughta know!!!!
I'm the one you left to rust....
Not one of your twisted friends....
I'm the one you couldn't love!!!!!!!!!"

Helllloooooooooo!!!! Miz Amber Ghidossiiiii!!!! This song is hella good. And the vocal slays me everytime. It's stuck in my head. And I want it to go, but I can't let it go....

Jeezus, Stevie.... why won't you sing your songs like this for us these days? Although, I must admit- "Beauty and the Beast" in Las Vegas killed me... (am I right, Paula?!?!?! and Mariel- remember the hug in the bar in Caesar's Palace and you said, "I'm not gonna tell you anything about the set list, but it's gonna be goooood")

Why don't we put together a compilation CD of all the live "Insiders" we can track down & then burn one another copies & pass them around & share the joy & experience the love?

I have much love for Insider (live). It's a fantastic song.

I know, doll. That's why it's my favorite song. The vocal is otherworldly to my ears. In other words, very strange, very beautiful, and utterly, fully, inimitable.
When I hear it, I picture the vocal in my head as a bird fluttering around a giant cage. It can't escape, but it has a lot of room, so it flutters and soars before coming back down again. I know, that sounds dumb, but Stevie's voice is really fluttery and soary in this. Of course, the harmony is so strange that it's an otherworldy bird. With colors that don't exist on Earth, and stuff.
Did Mariel say that? Didn't I then ruin it by telling you how fab BATB was? I hope not, but it seems like I did.
Anyway, I cry about 75 percent of the time I listen to this song, because it's so amazing and beautiful to me. I simply can't believe any human was born with a voice like that. It's a miracle; the eighth wonder of the world, etc. :)

i worship this song, it is perfection!!!~

Please post
 

Can anyone post it for me...
I've never heard it:o :o

Thanks in advance
eclipse

The lines:

I'll bet you're his masterpiece.....
I'll bet you're his self-control...
Yeah, you'll become his legacy
His quiet world of white and gold.....

Yeah, and I'm the one who oughta know!!!!
I'm the one you left to rust....
Not one of your twisted friends....
I'm the one you couldn't love!!!!!!!!!"

in so many ways reflect my life.

This song is just amazing from every vantage point.

It also is very very hard to sing and they do a great job.

That was just an amazing rendition of that amazing song. I just remember standing essentially on the front row and crying when she hit that CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANGED - and I was not alone in my flood of tears. I also remember Sharon (Sulamith) and I saying afterward that we honestly thought La Nicks could not sing like that anymore.

Swoon indded I did.

you took the words out of my mouth.

Insider is the perfect song to illustrate Stevie's true vocal talents. The way she wraps her voice around Tom's is goosebump inspiring and the inflection of the words and just the lyrics themselves. They should both be very proud of their work on this song.

I agree w/ everyone - and kudos to the genius of Tom Petty for writing it! :nod:

:le sigh: That's my favorite part of the song as well. It has a great climatic sense to it. It's real soft and heartbroken-like....and then bursts into rage and anger. That's how my emotions go...I'm sad and depressed and go to mega-bitch in 5.5 seconds.

Yep.

What I wouldn't give for a video of the live performance...

OK... Can someone help me out and post this???
I have not heard it and you guys are making me salivate (just by your descriptions!)

Please, please:)
eclipse

Oh, it's wonderful. Stevie at her absolute best. I get chills just thinking about it.

Yep.

Nope. You and Mariel were in one of those "I can't believe it" stunned funks, though. I had stayed away from the Ledge for that entire week and had no clue. And I kept saying over and over, "I don't wanna know the set list- I wanna be surprised." And luckily, I was.

My heart stopped at that moment. I was seriously stunned. It's amazing that feeling- when your eyes are open and your body cannot stop the tears from flowing.

It was shocking. I remember running over to you at the end of the concert on Friday screaming, "See, she can do it!!"

You and me both, babe.

I felt my knees buckle. I think I grabbed Sharon or Glodie's arm. I must say La Nicks did that to me in Madison, WI at the emotionally delivered ending chants of Sara (swallow all your pride) on that opening night, though B&B in Vegas was IMO much better vocally.

Lord Child - like two school girls with gossip about the class slut :]

I'll try to post it when I get home from work today.

Words cannot describe my love for this song. Seriously, the harmonies, the lyrics, the music - it's all so perfect. Chills every time I hear it.

Seriously - does anyone not like this song? :shrug:

My absolute favorite duet of all time. Lyrically and vocally stunning and haunting at the same time. This song truly captures the essence of Stevie. The thing that touches me most about her vocal is the vulnerability. For a singer to give so much of herself emotionally to an audience like that is truly touching and very difficult to accomplish. This song is a gift and thanks to Tom for sharing it with us and serving it with Ms. Nicks. There are very few songs I can listen to over and over again and consistently get chills - Insider live is one of them. I melt every time he introduces her and the audience goes wild.

Does anyone know what show this is from?

How many times did they sing this live?

I only know of the one on the Petty Live CD (Pack Up the Plantation?) I'm assuming they did it more than once since Stevie sang live at his shows several times, but I have yet to see it surface on any Petty bootlegs. :shrug:

Any idea what city the show was recorded in?

Oh, hell no!
*I just want this thread to stay up forever*:laugh:

The HARD PROMISES version of "Insider" is gorgeous...but the live PACK UP THE PLANTATION version just soars...Stevie was at her peak vocally at this point and it's obvious to all that when she sings with Tom, she truly rises to the occasion.
True brilliance is this song...and the live version...perfection.:xoxo:

rbs

I don't know off hand - I don't have my cassette (that's right, CASSETTE :cool: ) here. Is it listed in the liner notes? I'll check later.

Los Angeles. I think the Heartbreakers played two nights at the Forum, & this was from one of them.

Stevie also showed up at these other Heartbreaker concerts:

June 26, 1981 San Francisco Cow Palace
June 30, 1981 East Rutherford NJ Meadowlands
July 3, 1981 East Rutherford NJ Meadowlands
September 18, 1981 Irvine CA Irvine Meadows
September 19, 1981 Irvine CA Irvine Meadows
October 2, 1981 Lakeland FL Civic Center
October 6, 1981 St. Petersburg FL
October 8, 1981 Gainesville FL O'Connell Center

There was also a show in Boston but I don't know the date. The Irvine Meadows show is on tape--it includes Insider. It was allegedly at the Gainesville show that they both sang "Wild Thing"

Plus Stevie played a Heartbreakers concert as a guest in July 1985 in Tempe AZ, but no Insider; & she did Stop Dragging with the Heartbreakers at two benefits in September 1981, one in Los Angeles & one in Tucson AZ.

^ I have the 85 Tempe show - always wondered why they didn't do Insider at that show. Of course, I don't know how good it would have been vocally on Stevie's end at that point.

Irvine with Insider is on tape, huh? Has it been converted to CD, by chance? :cool: Could it be?

Thanks for the info David.

I have never heard the Tempe show, but I taped the show in L.A. two days earlier. More than "Insider," I wish Stevie had joined Tom for "Don't Bring Me Down."
Honestly, I don't know what all has been CD'd, or whether that Irvine show has been CD'd. One guy--Brian--has CD'd some of my tapes in the past, but I can't keep bugging him. Somebody somewhere must have put this on CD.

Thanks so much David. You are always a wealth of information. So the Pack Up the Plantation live version was recorded in Los Angeles? Also, do you know if they did Insider on these other dates you posted she showed up at?

Yes. Most of the album was recorded on Petty's 1985 tour, but "Insider" & "Needles & Pins" were taped live at the Forum in 1981.
I believe so--Irvine, for example, & I think San Francisco.

I've been suggesting for years that we offer to trade a lot of the master reel stuff with the Heartbreakers for 1981 audio or even video of Tom & Stevie onstage.

It's a beautiful song, one of the best ballads she has ever sung. And the intensity she reaches in the live version is just great, also for the chemistry she has onstage with Tom Petty, far more than with Don Henley. IMO Petty/Nicks live wouldn't have nothing to envy to Buckingham/Nicks live.

Romy

Does anybody have any other live versions of Insider besides the official one from the Pack Up the Plantation album? If so please post. I would LOVE to hear another version :nod:.

wait a min. baby....
 

Does anyone else freeek out at the end of the live version when Stevie coos the "Oooo.... oooo.... ooooo..... oo-oo welll........"

I think that was her introduction to her vocal zenith. The trilogy of "Gypsy", "That's Alright" and "Straight Back" came right after this performance. That was the pinnacle of her voice. The Wild Heart was the beginning of the deconstruction.

What are you still doing up ?

That part sounds like four people singing out of the same throat and it is amazing to say the least.

and - yes, that moment in time was the best she ever sounded.

Geoffrey has family trauma-drama coming up this weekend and we had to take care of some odds and ends on a school night. Yes, I know, I know... I went to shut down my computer and needed another shot of "Insider" live before going to bed.

Add "Sleeping Angel" to the mix and you've got the equivalent of a musical orgasm.