Question on Fireflies
 

Hi all! :wavey:
As I have already written about a hundred times on this forum :) I absolutely love Fireflies. It is one of my favorite FM songs and I love Stevie's voice when she sings it.
My question is: to my recollection, this song can be found only on Live 1980, right?:confused: Does anyone know why? I know the story behind the lyrics, but I don't know when it was written and why it was never included in any studio album.
Thanx!!

It's only appearance is on the LIVE album, yes. I think maybe it was a Tusk outtake or something that just didn't make the cut. It is a pretty good song, I can only imagine what they might've done with it in the studio.

Thank you, mylittledemon. Actually, I like this particular version very much, and it's perhaps my favorite Stevie vocals. I know it sounds a little wierd, I don't know if anyone else is so crazy about it.
Does it at least appear on any other live performance, official or not?

I've got a lot of bootlegs and such and I don't think I've ever seen another "version" of Fireflies. I think there may have been a demo of it on MainStream's "Tusk Take II" but I'm not positive. It is a great song, and the live version probably would remain the "staple" even if there was another version out there.

There is a vinyl 12" of a Fireflies remix...but even that's taken from the original Live cut, with slight variation.

"Fireflies," like "The Farmer's Daughter" and "One More Night," to my knowledge, was prepared as new material for the "Live" album. None of those songs have ever been performed live -- the exception being "Farmer's Daugher," which was a big surprise when it was included in "The Dance" concert set -seventeen years later.

I, too, love the song. It's an overlooked classic. It's not exactly "live" though. Like many other songs on that album, there was a lot of post-production. Most likely, the vocal "ooooohs" were recorded in the studio.

There are several mixes of the song. The single version is a different mix with an edited faded ending -- much different from the album version.

But the really interesting, really confusing thing about Fireflies is just why it & One More Night were played at what was apparently a dress rehearsal for a later leg of the Tusk Tour. Maybe there was some filming done for promotional material or even a concert film or documentary. A doc was ultimately released but as we all know, had no material from the Santa Monica Civic rehearsals.

The other curious thing about Fireflies is that people have found a bunch of different takes of it, but we don't know whether those were different performances of it at Santa Monica Civic or not. In one of those, there is both an organ & an acoustic piano, so it's probably something that was not done (at least entirely) at the Santa Monica Civic. I believe the Santa Monica Civic thing was in the middle of 1980--possibly July, right before the August leg. Stevie's voice does things on Fireflies that remind one of things her voice did on the August shows.

So we really don't have a clear picture of just what the heck these songs are or why they were done or exactly when or even what they were pulled from.

I love Fireflies, it's one of my very favourites from the Tusk era.

The vocals, the sound of the song and the whole thing generally reminds me of Angel.

i love fireflies! its one of my all time favourites! and i especially love the lindsey/stevie harmonies, theyre beautiful!

yep. me too.

I've never heard this. Anyone want to share?:o

do you have the Live CD? well, nevermind...that was a stupid question I guess.

Not a big One More Night fan here.

I have this on LP and my record player is in need of repair - so I have not listened to Fireflies in a long time - I can barely remember anything about it - although I do remember I liked "One More Night" :thumbsup:

I used to have a demo/outtake/whatever it was of Fireflies with the actual ending listed at Nicksfix:

Like a sailing ship, not one of us runs
Everyone stays, and the fire never fades

I don't know if this is the same one everyone else is talking about. It's on my old computer...I wish it still worked. :rolleyes:

this sounds like the FM Live version - i believe the end lyrics on it are:

Like a sailing ship, not one of us runs
Everyone stays, and the fire flies...

but i could be wrong. :o i love this song, too. i love what it's about.

I have this gross version where Lindsey starts out singing for to help Stevie, then she takes over. Everyone already has that, yeah? To me, it's not so good.
I have a regular good one, but I assume it is from Live album (although I don't know for sure, as I don't have Live. Bad fan, no cookie!)

This is the version Amber is talking about. Such a different vocal from Stevie than on the released track. Someone was high on something... I have it on my hard drive but for some reason yousendit.com is not working right now. I'll try again later. I love the song and remember always having to get up and set the needle back on the vinyl to hear it over and over when it first came out on the live album. Thank God for replay on cd's!

Terry

Okay I got yousendit to work. Here are the 3 versions I have. 2 are from a file I have labeled Tusk demos. The other is the released version.


This is the version with the ending Sorcerer386 mentioned.

http://s5.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2S...Y19G77IZI8E96B



This is another version in the file labeled Fireflies-alt.

http://s23.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2...Y3W53IJ9QW12UQ



and this is the released version.

http://s5.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2C...G1UEQFGPL97630

Actually, I used to- years ago, so I don't know why I'm blanking. Anyway, I'm downloading it now. Listening---okay yes, I know this song. Thanks!

The first version is the "single mix"..

The second version is... im guessing a "live demo".. them working through the song to get the sound that they wanted.. or a rehearsal. But Stevie's voice is bad in this second version which leads me to believe that it wasn't a rehearsal close to the recording date of the live album cut. Maybe they rehearsed it two weeks prior.. who knows. :confused:

You should get it, amber. I think you'd like that album.

The one here labeled firefliesalt sounds like a single mix, which I think they released on a 45 or even on a 33 (like "Think About Me"). There are two Stevie vocal tracks (just like the track on the album) so it's had some post-Santa Monica Civic studio work.

The one labeled firefliesdemo (fans sure love that word "demo") was probably done about the same time (Lindsey is playing exactly the same riffs & Stevie is singing essentially the same melody line & doing her gangster thing that she did only in the last half of the 1980 tour), but it's not a properly compressed, mixed track for an album. It sounds like a raw soundboard recording: direct through the cables, similar to all our soundboard concert recordings.

We still don't know how many times they ran through "Fireflies" at the Santa Monica Civic (the date for which I want to stick to my guess of July 1980) -- or even what they were doing there exactly. All we have are guesses. But it seems a safe bet that the initial recordings were made in this hall, as a live band (everybody playing together), & were then patched up a bit for the live album with both traditional mixing & mastering as well as some doubletracking.

Chris plays only organ on both of these. There's still another "Fireflies" going around where you can hear both acoustic piano & organ. It's been so long since I've heard that one. That in itself isn't necessarily proof of doubletracking in Christine's case (there are occasions when she played electric piano & organ together, like on "Dreams" chorus) but it highly suggests it. The acoustic piano is different because it isn't close enough in proximity to the organ. It would be very unusual for Chris to handle both simultaneously (Benmont Tench manages to do it in concert but he must have his own secrets & his own setup for the rig).

So I think that Fleetwood Mac recorded all these "Fireflies" at the Santa Monica Civic -- either on a single day (possibly for dress rehearsal & also intending to record songs for the upcoming live album) or on multiple days -- all at some later break in the tour (which would mean April or July). Then they took the "Fireflies" they wanted & mixed it & tracked a little more (as they did with many live tracks on the album). Hence the differences in the way they all sound.

Love, love, love Fireflies. It's like one of those rare gems. It's so hidden and secret that it's not overplayed, but it's one of her best songs ever.

Does anyone remember it being played on the radio long ago?

There is also a nice version of Farmers Daughter on the Tusk re-issue disc 2, so I assume they were working on this song during the Tusk sessions.

The FM Live version ends like this:

Like a sailing ship, not one of us runs
No (or "oh"), no (or "oh" again)
Of our love affair
Like a whip through the air
I would love to believe
I believe what you say
(inane sort of "yeah," I always replace it with "la bete" for some reason).

Anyway, she doesn't do that line "Everyone stays, and the fire never fades."

the stiletto cuts quick...
 

I love Fireflies. It's just one of those songs that you hear and like instantly.
There's something about it that makes it so pleasing to the ear.

Anyone have the rest of the Live 80 album they'd like to share? ;)

It's FOR SALE. I can't believe that EVERYONE here doesn't own it.
For shame.:( I mean REALLY. You a FAN, but you don't own the definitive live recording of the band, IN THEIR PRIME!?





And not that damned Live in Boston orchestra crap....

http://product.half.ebay.com/Fleetwo...emZ12615955260
Here it is for $12. Giddyup!

I am sorry if this is a stupid question-what do you mean by that? ( (the gangster thing that is)

There are no stupid questions, elie. There are only stupid variations on existing themes by Righini & Dittersdorf.

The "gangster voice" refers to a performance vocal tic that Stevie developed in the middle of the Tusk Tour, which she used heavily throughout the rest of the tour but had dropped almost entirely by the time she toured on her own for the first time (about 14 months later).

If you look at the final stanza (it's really more of a coda) that Sorcerer386 posted above, the "gangster thing" occurs on the line "I believe what you say." Stevie drops into an sort of sotto voce, beefing up her throat & chest, putting the accent on the first syllable of "believe" & cutting out all legato in phrasing & vibrato in delivery. The effect is of a tough guy or hood, a brusk, threatening, slightly New Joizy attitude; so I call it the "ganster voice." You can also hear it on live performances of the time, in parts of "Dreams," "Rhiannon" & "Sisters of the Moon."

When you hear it, it really helps to date a particular recording or performance, at least insofar as period of the tour, since it appears to have grown more aggressive & frequent as the tour wound up.

Thank you David!
That's actually what I had thought you meant. I think she also does it a bit in other parts of the song (a bit in the lines "there is no easy way" or "the stiletto cuts quick" for example, even though I 'm not sure if it's so obvious there).
I absolutely love it. It's one of the reasons I like her vocals in the Live 1980 so much.

that's totally what I meant! You got it!

I love it, too :thumbsup:

Oh, psh Homie. I don't even have Christine's 84 album. Stone me!
I could've bought it from a used record store, but someone beat me to it. Those bastards.

I've got a sock full of quarters, will that do?:lol:
If you bookmark searches like Chris '84 on half.com, you'll usually find a really good deal within a few weeks.

Well, at least you have Mystery To Me.;) :D You can easily buy Christine's 1984 solo album online, if not in record stores. If you buy it from Amazon, then Chris will get paid too.:)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=glance&n=5174

I have a Fireflies promo with a stereo (remix) (edit) on one side and a mono (remix) (edit) on the other. It was in a regular singles sleeve that lists Over My Head as the b side and has the Fireflies lyrics on the back cover. It sure doesn't sound live at all to me. Not sure if this is the same as what is mentioned here.

Hey Travis! :wavey: Nice to see you around these parts again.

I love Fireflies. It's definitely one of my favorite Mac songs. I love that part about "the stiletto cuts quick, like a whip through the air" what a cool lyric and imagery! I assume she means the daggar and not the shoe? :laugh:

Aaaand, thank you for deciphering some of the lyrics for me! Hey, that is clever - good ol' Stevie. I love that part musically, too. Maybe I should look up all the lyrics. I still happily sing right along, though. Perhaps the lyrics should remain a mystery, to be discovered with delight, piece by piece, as I have done here.

Ok, here's the scoop. You're all assuming that since "Fireflies", "One More Night" & "Farmer's Daughter" were on the Live album, that the performances are "live". They aren't...not even close.

Yes, what would be considered the BASIC TRACKS of the three songs mentioned above were performed live at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium...the rest is studio "sweetening" and the reality is that there's enough "sweetening" to cause Diabetes. (and that includes the REST of the {ahem!} LIVE album, as well...I seriously doubt that the vocal track on ANY of the songs is the vocal that was actually performed at the show)