Let's Talk About...SISTER HONEY
 

Here's a random one for you all!

Does anyone have the slightest clue what this song is about?? The reason I started this thread is that I've always been a bit clueless about it and was hoping others could maybe give me some idea?

Has anyone even heard Stevie discussing this track? I remember she gave a brief story about it to one of the questions asked by fans on nicksfix but I can't find that question now.

Obviously my first thought was that this was about coke, since it's on Rock A Little, but I'm just not sure. "Can we still be friends...the answer's always yes..." Of course it is if she's addicted...

I really think this is one of the best songs on the album, I love it! I was in 2 minds about starting this thread because I quite like the idea of not having a clue about the song, itkes it fun!

Thoughts anyone?

What songs on RAL are for sure about blow? I've speculated about that for a while but until now, I've never heard anyone mention a potential common trend on the album.

First off, I love "Sister Honey." It is one of my favorite songs to jam to by myself in the car, soonafter recieving weird looks from people at stoplights. Now that I think about it.... I think that there could definitely be ties to coke, although some of my conclusions are stretched. I'm going to dissect the lyrics as if "Sister Honey" is blow... She's definitely personifying something here.

I think you will like Sister Honey
She will help you
Make up your mind
even if you don't need her
Tell her you need her
She needs you brother

She could be initially commenting on how the drug kind of eradicates indecisiveness in a user. I think that its interesting that Stevie says, "even if you don't need her, tell her you need her." It's almost like she realizes that addiction is totally a state of mind and cocaine doesn't have to be a "neccessity" if that state of mind can be changed. Instead, the coke world literally needs people like her to sustain the business.

Strange fascination
Some kind of temptation
To know Sister
Never having allowed yourself
Do you understand the word, pleasure
Well, you say it's just never crossed your mind
And she believes you

An explanation of the tempting aspects of the drug-- to "know" Sister is to meet a totally different type of pleasure.


She realizes that keeping the "relationship" may be a "best intention" but it could be harmful.

Nobody's right, baby
All the time
And a fool never knows what he's leaving behind
So take some time to know the real story
Cause a soul that's true is your ride to glory
Don't let that golden hair get in your way , baby

This verse justifies the potential harm of coke-- she doesn't want to be the "fool" who "leaves behind" an experience that may or may not be a good one. She has to take the ride regardless of what the odds may be.

Come back solemn stranger
It's your last chance
She's almost gone, now
And she'll go fast like a jet plane
And then fast like a star stream
She'll hit you with a fury
Whispering the words one more time, baby
One more time
And she says don't let that golden hair
Get in your way now

"One more time, baby".... yeah, I'm voting coke as a potential metaphor on this one.

Phew! Well done!

I didn't mean that every song on Rock A Little is specifically about coke. Apparently The Nightmare is about her brief marriage but who knows? Of course there's also the story of Has Anyone Eever Written Anything For You. I just meant that it's her most coked out album because of the time it was made etc.

There was that thread a while back about her most coke-y song and most of the ones from this time were up there!

Yeah, I know what you mean. I knew that every song wasn't about it but it makes sense, given the time period, that there would be ties...

Wait, I wanna find that thread! That sounds really interesting.

"Sister Honey" was co-written with Stevie's old slovenly coke/F-buddy Les Dudek. Its about coke. Since Stevie desperately wants to forget her addiction to coke and her "relationship" with Dudek, she will forever ignore this song.

And yet, coke comes up in about every interview from the past 20 years.... The Les part makes sense, though-- RAL is a very ignored album in her solo shows

I've heard that she refuses to play anything from Rock A Little through to Street Angel because she wants to forget it all, apart from Has Anyone Ever Wriitten Anything For You. I get that we all have times we just want to blank out but at the same time the decision doesn't sit easy with me. On the one hand she'd obviously want to put on the best show she can for audience response etc and those albums don't have her biggest hits on them (apart from I Can't Wait and Rooms on Fire) but at the same time don't the fans deserve to hear maybe just those two? After all, they made them hits.

Of course she can do what she wants though, but it would be nice to see those albums acknowldged, we did buy them after all. Of course, even if she did add a couple of tunes from this period to the set there'd still be no way we'd get Sister Honey!

Yeah, I'm sure that those were far from good days in her mind.... but it also might be a vocal issue to a level. I would LOVE to hear "I Can't Wait" live but it wouldn't be the same rearranged to better fit her current voice, nor does she want to meddle with it. I generally prefer her first two solo albums and then TISL to anything in between, but I get what you're saying-- a LITTLE variety could go a long way, especially for those fans who prefer those albums.

I love "Rock A Little", I'd consider it my second favourite of Stevie's solo albums. Songs like "If I Were You" could easily work with the way her voice is as the moment. I mean, she performed "Talk To Me" until 1994.

I've always thought that 'Sister Honey' is about partying and drugs, rock and roll, staying up all night, screaming guitars, thundering Harley's and jetplanes and waking up on the kitchen floor the next day (after riding the star-stream) and not remembering much. A heady song, for a heady time.

Brilliantly summarised! I think that's what it's about too.

Dani - I'm agree with you if I had to put the albums in order, but both Rock A Little and Other Side Of The Mirror have their individual tracks that I'd LOVE to hear live! It's a shame she won't do them.

I can remember only one instance of Stevie's discussing anything about this song: her 1986 Innerview with Jim Ladd.

Maybe it's Sister Carrie I'm actualling thinking of, but I lean towards the (admittedly) surface reading and say that Sister Honey is a prostitute. I think the song chronicles a power play in relationships, where it's unclear who holds the strength and control. You think it's A initially and you find that it's B who can't walk away.

Who's putting on the facade and pretending to love (need)? Is one doing it only for the money and one doing it only for the sexual gratification. Well, maybe neither are still there for the disinterested reasons that brought them.

My favorite line is "don't let that golden hair, get in the way." I know this can be interpreted as not letting the hair get in the way of a cocaine snort, but I see the hair as innocence and/or a cover. Sometimes I'm not sure whether the golden hair is soft and pure or hard and brassy. Sometimes, I think it means, don't let your inhibitions or conscience get in the way. Sometimes, I think it means don't judge a book by its cover. A hard shell conceals a soft core.

At any rate, I think the words fast like a jet plane, fast like a star stream, hit you with a fury, whispering the words one more time are very seductive. I mean, even if I don't think it's about cocaine, I do think it's about addiction.

Michele

I would LOVE to see her put "Whole Lotta Trouble" back into her set....that song ws GREAT live!!!

I wanted to add that the nicest part of the star stream/jet plane lines is with all that force, rush and fury, she is still whispering the words "one more time."

Sister Honey unbridles with the most delicate touch. Viva the contrast.

Michele

Love this song. It's totally funky and different!!!

Interesting... I think the important thing to see here is that "Sister Honey" showcases addiction in general, and we see that before any concrete origin.

She'll go FAAAAST! like a jet plane
Then FAST! like a star stream!

The music is so camp and 80's, but I love it. :o

I've never considered Sister Honey in this light. I guess I never really tried to dissect this one. The music is so catchy that I didn't care about the lyrics.

Very interesting though. I never saw Sister Honey as a very "deep" song, but now I see how clearly Sister Honey could be referencing addiction.

I love this song. Well, I love the whole Rock a Little album but this is in my top 3. For whatever reason this is always one of the songs I like to rock out to while I'm cleaning my house lol.

Ha, I was the same way until I saw this thread... it kinda came together for me as I was dissecting it. Weird.

Yes. Any addiction works. For me, because I see it as mutual, I rule out a controlled substance. Alcohol and Drugs lure and entice you to them, but I don't think they are portrayed as being drawn to you in return.

Now, gambling is a bit different. When the siren Lady Luck is personified, the attraction can be somewhat mutual because you don't just lose money; sometimes you win big. Sometimes, you (falsely) feel as if you're conquering Lady Luck. So, there's some reciprocity in that relationship.

But overall, in the song, it's the back and forth, the exchange of needs and desires that makes me think of human to human relationship. She needs you brother . . . She believes you . . . If your soul is true, you will succeed with her.

Michele

The coke inferences may or may not be there. But I think you are surmising and interjecting far too much depth to the lyrics. When those words were written, I really don't think the writers conceived such linear concise meaning. You add more credit/importance to the lyrics than it, and many other lyrics, deserve!

This isn't to say I'm convinced the song is about coke-- the original post mentioned it and I kinda ran with it considering it was an idea that I hadn't heard before. Plus, many of the conclusions I drwe were stretches and I acknowledged that. However, I think Stevie's lyrics are more important than most-- she is, after all, as much of a writer as she is a musician and I think that most of her work is well thought out and sculpted to suit her purpose.

Here are some of her comments:

"Les Dudek and I wrote this song and it was inspired by us. He just started playing those chords and just went, 'Alright, baby!' and it was written. He's playing live, though, in my living room. He's playing not only live, but loud! I mean, the entire canyon is ringing with Sister Honey, you know. It's like, I can't believe that the people aren't trying to burn down our house, you know. Because he's really playing loud, and I'm going, you know, 'Those parts are all really loud!' It's like, I'm screaming, you know. And once again, you get that sparkle. And you're standing in a room with somebody that's playing great and they're not really paying a hell of a lot of attention to you because they're playing their thing, you know, and you're just standing there trying to sing something that even gets their or anybody else's attention. And so yeah, you just draw back and go, 'Okay, I'm gonna blow your mind now.'"

And this is from another interview:

"I wrote a song with Les Dudek called Sister Honey. Which was probably one of the most fun two months of my life. It was the closest I've been back to the same environment that Lindsey and I were in. Les sort of just parked his Harley Davidson outside our house, and like, became a part of my family. He just became a part of my family, you know, everyone loved him to death. And he just lived there, and we worked all night and all day for about seven weeks. And he played loud rock and roll, raucous, loud rock and roll guitar, and we sang loud. The entire canyon was ringing with this song. And I love nothing better than to be in the company of a great guitar player. It's the only time when I'm calm, and I think it's because of living all those years with Lindsey. And all he ever did was play guitar. Acoustic guitar, electric guitar, not plugged in, sound off on the television. And I had to learn to cool out and be calm when that was going on, or get out. And so when in the studio, here, or anywhere, the only time really when I am completely calm is when a guitar player is working on a part. Very strange."

Hmm...never really thought about this song being about drugs/addiction...but it makes sense. I find the line "Can we still be friends/The answer's always yes" to be very comforting though.

I see what you mean.

Conversely, I take that line as an expression of hopelessness rather than hope. Rather than thinking it meant "you've got an unconditional friend, no matter what happens." I always heard it as saying this was someone/something you've had some break with (which is why they are asking if you can still be friends, at least), but you can't pull away from completely. You can't say "no" to, even if "yes" means your detriment.

Michele

Maybe because the song is kind of upbeat, I've always heard it as more of a 'wherever life takes us, I'll always have your back if you need me' sort of feeling...but I get the sinking sensation I haven't been paying close enough attention to the whole song. Still...the line jumped out at me one day when I really needed it to...so there. :thumbsup:

These comments reveal nothing about the supposed meaning of the song. More often than not, if you haven't noticed, curiously Stevie talks about her songs in terms of the circumstances in which they were created.

And when we get meanings from her, we usually get 2 or 3. Michele

Sistah... AWRIGHT BABY! AWRIGHT! AWRIGHT BABY! OOH, AWRIGHT!

The chorus is definitely my favourite. It's so cheesy and twinkly and mall bangs and bangles, and then it goes back to "OW! What is right baby..."

That's very true! :lol:

Now don't forget that Les toured with Stevie on her "Timespace" tour. I've met Les a couple of times and he's a really great guy. Very nice and really funny. He has nothing but kind things to say about Stevie as well.

Oh boy, Sister Honey...one of my favorite Stevie songs. I love everything about RAL. I love that whole messed up crazy-assed time in Stevie's life. Stevie was a coked up mess but damn, did she put on great concerts during that tour!!!!!!! As far as the song goes, I've always found it to be very sexual sounding. It IS a great song to "Do It " to, I can tell you that.

That would have to be some crazy sex! Haha!

and it was........actually RAL as a whole is a great album to put on when doing the nasty is involved. I don't know why, but it is.

Actually you could be right there now I think about it, a few tracks from it have been on a certain type of soundtrack for me..haha..just not Sister Honey...one tip, The Nightmare doesn't work so well! Damnit, now you've got me thinking of a whole different kind of Stevie playlist...

I know of a very old rumour that "sister honey" is the name Stevie has for her female organ. LMAO! I have no first hand knowledge of the story but someone asked Les Dudek ( Who oddly enough was born here in RI) what the song was about and he replied it was about Stevie's vajayjay. :0

'Can we still be friends, the answer's always yes...'

:shocked:

Doesn't surprise me in the least. Oh Stevie...

Absolutely! And the meanings change over time. That's why I take her comments and explanations with a grain of salt. It's not that she's not credible; you just have to understand, as a fan, that her reality/history is very fluid. Attaching a fixed thought on anything she says is a meaningless task...dare say an Impossible Task.;)