Like or Dislike: Doing the Best That I Can
 

I saved the best for last. :cool: I love this song so damn much. It is haunting, it is gorgeous, it is dark, it is beautiful. There's not a thing I don't like about it. I honestly think it's one of her best songs ever, and I would say it's in my top 10. How the hell this tune did NOT make it onto Enchanted is beyond me. A travesty, in my humble opinion.

Lyrically, her pain is apparent, and you can really feel it. Is this song about her cocaine addiction? I thought I read that somewhere. But I seem to remember also hearing that it's about her solo career versus her Mac career. Whatever it's about - WOW. :shocked: It just absolutely blows me away. She sounds pissed off, and hurt, and defensive.

Vocally? Spectacular. She really wails, particularly toward the ending. And how fun is it to sing along to the "ah-ha" "AH-HA!" part with her and the girls? Most fun ever. :nod: This is a song to really belt it out to, and I think it would have been fantastic live.

The alternate version (the one where she's sitting at the piano, singing with the girls with some alternate lyrics) is OK. I know some people say they prefer that version. Not me, I really like the album version better.

Favorite lines (if forced to choose):

It was one for you...it was three for me
It was very nice...it was everything
So here it is...in little pieces...
I just played the part...I didn't win or lose
Maybe next time I'll think about how I'm feeling...

I didn't win or lose...I just threw the cards
But I paid a price for it...

Well because fate causes fortune and fortune takes it away

In my distress...well I wanted someone to blame me
In my devastation...I wanted so to change
In my way...disaster was the only thing that I could depend on...

Love it. :nod:

One of my absolute all time favorite songs from Stevie. Interestingly, my favorite lines are the same as yours. I love the way her voice sounds when she says, "I just threw the caa-ards". It's a song I've been able to to put my own troubles into- a song I have been able to relate to strongly. As far as Stevie goes, I've always thought it was a song about relationships. "Well, I'm trying hard to change and I'm doing the best that I can...". Definitely solo vs. FM, but more than that, too.

I can't say enough about how much I love this song. I never tire of it. I'm at work, otherwise I'd keep blabbering on. :o

I LOVE this song. I love all of the words, the haunting melody, and the magical feeling to it. My only complaint is that at the begining, i wish the synth was a bit louder. Otherwise else, one of my fav songs from my fav album.

I can't tell you how often I quote lyrics from this song or in my mind, sing it to myself in times of dire strain. it is Stevie at her lyrical best...

while it does have a mystical, airy fairy vibe to it, it is the totally in your face strength that makes it my favorite on TOSOTM

Haunted, emotional, hurt and incredibly dramatic.
Her best song on her best album.

I love it! :thumbsup:

About a 5 out of 10 for me.:nod:

The 2nd best song on the record. I used to love it, but now I would give it about 8 out of 10 stars. It's a great capsule of time period, and a track where there is full emotional oomph. I pull two stars because there is a slight dated feel to the track, though not as much as the other tracks. Also, I yank a star for purely personal reasons. I hate the concept of Trying to change. Make up your mind and do it already. I know it certainly signifies her limbo at the time, and thus is effectively showing where she was. It still bugs me though. Just like the "at least I'm trying to change" line in the live BATB. It translates to me as "I'd like to change but I have been so miserable for so long, I'd really rather stay here in my rut than risk moving." :laugh:

Personal issue.

I interpret this as Stevie's "I f*cked up, but I don't have any regrets" song. I like the intensity behind the lyrics and how her vocals are ragged and raw. Her demonic vocal layering at the end is downright creepy, and could have been worked into the script of Poltergeist, but it works. The production leaves something to be desired, the application of the drum machine is just wrong and leaves the song sounding unfinished (Alice has the same problem). Why does Stevie continue to allow the use of drum machines on her final recordings. BAD.

This is one of my very favourite Stevie songs, purely because has some of the best lyrics she has ever written - this is THE best song on OSOTM :thumbsup:

Yes, YES oh GOD yes..!
 

I agree with everyone else. Fantastic Stevie song. It really shows off her voice and for me was the highlight of the album along side 'rooms on fire'. It's just a shame they put 'I still miss someone' after it.

It's my favorite song off of OSOTM. :thumbsup:

It was everything!!!

LOVE IT! One of her "epics" .... like Rhiannon, SOTM, GDW. Although not nearly as good as those three....

This is, for me, the absolute best song on 'The Other Side Of The Mirror' (though it sometimes has to duke it out with "Ghosts" for that position, but lately I've been feeling "DTBTIC" more)... it's the anchor for the entire album. It's also one of my all-time favorite songs, period.

I totally agree with you, Paula, that it was a damn shame this track wasn't included on 'Enchanted.' It certainly would have been a far worthier inclusion than "Desert Angel."
I also agree that the little "ah-ha... AH-HA!" part is extremely fun to sing along with. :D

I was thinking about this and I think this is one of the best harmonies with Stevie and the girls. I'm not sure who's doing the high harmony on the "ah ha" part, I'm assuming Sharon, but it is pure bliss.

*runs to listen*

I only listened to OSOTM like two weeks ago, from start to end and i agree that the album REALLY should of ended with this song. I have never paid much attention to this album yet when this song came on it did have the EPIC feel to it. This album doesn't get much mention and especially because stevie just doesn't sing anything from it, therefore when you go back to hear the original of something she has performed live and you end up listening to the rest of the original album... OSOTM misses out there.. Well thats what seems to happen for me.

Just thought i'd add that i really like Desert Angel, i used to years ago not, but now i do. Dont care much for the lyrics, but a great song to sing along to and i like the overall sound and flow of it.

JAZMEN: where did you get ANOTHER fabulous sig pic from??!!!??!!!!!

Im at work so unfortunately i cant run off a listen to it... dammit! I so want to hear it too now...

Where do u get ALL of ur great sigs from? i still can't figure out how to get a pic into my sig. :laugh:

As far as I'm concerned OSOTM does end with DTBTIC. I rarely [edit: never] listen to I Still Miss Someone. Probably mostly because the first time I listened to the album all the way through I was so knocked out by DTBTIC that the wholly weird and fairly ridiculous opening few seconds of I Still Miss Someone had me switching back.

Desert Angel is a masterpiece. Diss it at your peril :mad: ;)

Hello fellow DA lover! :wavey:

"Operaaaation Panty Shield !"

Couldn't resist.

It wasn't my intention to diss "Desert Angel" (I like it, too), but I do stand by my statement that "Doing The Best That I Can" was more worthy of a spot on 'Enchanted.' :nod:

:laugh: That's the section I'm not crazy about. She has me up till "Operation Desert Shield! Operation Desert Storm!."

But it's all right, because I used Audicity to make the offending part go bye-bye!

that's probably my favorite part.

I love this song, but I do agree that between the 2, Doing the Best should have been on Enchanted.

I pretty much love this song. Like alot. :xoxo:

"In my distress....
Well, I wanted someone to blame me!!
In my devastation- I wanted sooo to change
In my way.....
Disaster was the only thing that I could depend on....."

With the exception of "Sisters of the Moon" lyrics, this is probably the greatest Stevie lyric ever written. Especially because of the way she wrote the music and sings it.

The key to whole deal is "In my way", because it's only in her way that she could live life relying on disaster. And, jeezus, don't I feel that!!!!

When she was good- she was really good....

Sometimes I have favourite songs and then get sick of them, but not in this case. I loved it from the first time I heard it and always will.

My favourite lyrics are

Because fate causes fortune and fortune takes it away
And then fortune causes nightmares...nightmares that make you crazy

(She sounds half crazed as she sings 'nightmares that make you crazy'. I just find that part totally fascinating.)

and

She thought she was out there...but nobody saw

That's probably one of Stevie's lyrics that speaks to me the most.

Hehe, no problem!

Operation Panty Shield? :shocked:

Get outta here.... ;)

That is so interesting, because I totally relate to the, "well at least I'm TRYING to change" thing. Because I see change as being so difficult for most people. And she's saying that she's doing the best that she can.

You're so right! And it's not just the words themselves, but how she sings them! :nod:

Can somebody tell me what the heck BATB stands for?

Beauty And The Beast.

holy **** jason
you sig pic is utter sex!
like seriously :shocked:

DtBIC is my tied favorite Stevie song ever.
I love it coz it's depressing and coz it's like REAL Stevie.......it's not a romanticized fairytale world. I like how it's raw and a really simple {musically} song. I have it on my phone as my message alert and my supervisor at work heard it go off and he's like 'WOAH that was so 80s' THat is the only downside with the music :nod:

So many good lines.......and the way she sings them

my fave line is actually And the whispered secrets...go on and on
No one says anything to anyone i had to base my email on that. who hasn't been talked about behind their back and then found out about it GRRR


In my distress...well I wanted someone to blame me
In my devastation...I wanted so to change
In my way...disaster was the only thing that I could depend on...

:distress:

but ESPECIALLY

Because fate causes fortune
and fortune takes it away
And then fortune causes nightmares...
nightmares that make you crazy

and then i get chills when the music picks up :D

what's not to love about this song. AWESOME

i posted this the other week, but does anyone have the 2nd demo of this.........that's like 11 minutes long?

I have 3 bones to pick with this song tho.......WHY was it left off Enchanted, WHY wasn't it the last song on TOSOTM and WHY hasn't it been performed live {and i mean in concert, not the sing along around the piano thing}

:: sigh ::

O yeh.....duh!

thank you :xoxo:

I love all the lines you quoted.

does anyone have a live version, or demo of "doing the best i can"? would you post it if you have it? thanks.

i love this song, but it is dying for a key change somewhere towards the end. and i wish that *only* Stevie would have done the background vocals, i think it would have been more powerful...

yea..not a great vocal..she has to be in good voice for me to like it!
I love her..but I need to hear singing..not talking..not screaming..not straining..a clean vocal...:sorry:
Plus I get nervous when the arrangements are geared up for the back up singers to hit all the high notes..my pet peeve. It seems patched together.

Sure it has a very late 1980s Europop feel but it works for the song ,like a critic at the time pointed out it is very similar to Tanita Tikarim's one great song 'Twist in my Sobriety"..a very different sound for Stevie .she has never come up with anything else like it and certainly in her top 5 of the last 20 years.

I truly admire your passion for Stevie!
However I find the eras you love very sad and depressing. I just connect
those albums at a time when she was so lost and overweight and very unhappy. Not to mention a major shift in her voice that caused her to be made fun of by many and was no longer on par with Top 40 airplay. The drug addictions..etc. It wasn't included on Enchanted because maybe she is not in love with that song..or it bums her out too...It wasn't the last song on OSOTM..because it was too heavy..much like WISYA was not the last song on Tango.I love much of her darker and mysterious songs too..but there was just too much darkness..for me that is not her appeal. The line that says it all was.."WELL I PAID A PRICE FOR IT!"

I pray that is not the REAL Stevie....

here's my demo of this song.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/3pb3sa

Oh yay! People like this song.

I really got into Stevie in 1998 when I got her boxset. I loved her with the Dance but the boxset put me over the edge!

OSOTM is overall a weird album for a 20 year old to get into in the late 90's...it's very 80's and out there. But I loved that song...from day 1.

Of course now, I love anything that comes out of her mouth ( yeah...everything LOL) but that song was always the stand out to me in that album ( now I think it's Cry Wolf).

I thought many would not like it...but it's nice to see so many do!!:thumbsup: