Let's talk about...'Kick It'
 

deletedelete

Yes, I like this one musically. It's a chugga-chugga-chug-chug pop song with an eentsie-weentsie groove to it. It's better played & recorded than anything on The Other Side of the Mirror. It would be fun to cover.

I love Kick It. It's one of my top favorites off of SA. I love the guitar that kicks in at the start of the song and keeps on going. I love the lyrics here too. I think it's sharon who says "something like dieing" near the end of the song. After one of the I'm prepared to Kick It's come in from Stevie. A really great song.

I think it blows, like 95% of the Street Angel album. :) Basically, the only songs I like are the ones on Enchanted, and I prefer the versions on that to the ones on SA.

It think it's about cocaine. She's afraid to kick the habit.

It's a God awful song though.

I bought Street Angel several months ago. I have yet to listen to it all the way through. I've tried a thousand times. All of the songs just blend together and sound boring and reptitive. Not Stevie's best work, that's for sure. :sorry:

I love the song, Kick It! :nod:

Like 'Kick It' a lot. When SA came out, it was one of my 3 favorite songs from the cd- Kick It, Listen To The Rain, and Unconditional Love (which I realize most Ledgies have expressed intense dislike for)- also thought 'Love Is Like A River' almost could've been a great song, but the background vocals, especially near the start of the song, kinda made it suck, but then it kinda got good again til the background vocals once again cheesified it. But always liked 'Kick It'.

Hmm, interesting take. If you go through and listen to the lyrics, it certainly could be true. I've always thought it was about kicking the addiction of love. I think perhaps she used her knowledge from Betty Ford and the 12 steps addiction program to draw parallels between addiction to substances and the very real addiction to love and companionship. If you think about it, she really hasn't had any big love affairs since the song was written (that we know of). We know she was absolutely a serial dater in the '70s and '80s, so maybe she realized she had codependence issues? The song is absolutely about her not wanting to be involved with someone/something that wants to be just a bit too involved with her, and demands too high of a rank. Neat to think about what the song could mean, either way!

I definitely think this song is one of the better songs on SA, it was probably the first one I really dug upon hearing the album for the first time. But I definitely am a fan of SA... I think it's an especially undervalued album. In my opinion, it was exactly the right kind of album she needed to make at the time. I think she knew after her over the top fairy tale album of Other Side Of The Mirror, and with the end of the idealistic '80s transitioning into the more straight forward '90s, she needed to make a back to basics, straight forward rock album. She needed to peel away all the shawls, mist, and castles, and I think she did just that. Blue Denim, Kick It, Love Is Like A River, and Listen To The Rain are all great head bobbing rock songs. I for one am very glad that we have Street Angel, even if it includes stinkers like Jane :nod: .

I like Street Angel, and I will tell you why (not that my opinion counts for anything). I like it because of what Louie said, it's straightforward, it was kind of the first thing we saw from Stevie that wasn't wrapped up in her whole image. I felt like it was stripped down, and I liked it....except Jane, lol. I know she doesn't really like it, and I can understand why, but I'm glad we have it too. It's adds something different to the mix of things we have from her. Anything she puts out is gold to me.

This is definitely the more blatant piece of filler on an album full of filler. This album should have been called "Blue Denim... and Everything Else." But "Kick It" occupies the same rarefied space as "Love is Like a River" and "Listen to the Rain"- three songs that serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever. None. There isn't a strong melody or a particularly great lyric or a great vocal to be found anywhere. It's just meh-bordering on ick.

Those 4 songs are actually my favorite on the album. (along with Maybe Love...)

They are rockin' songs, compared to the borning Destiny, Jane, and to a lesser extent, Street Angel.

I totally agree with you here, but i have to add that SA is the album that gave stevie humility, it's her first album that wasn't a real success, It was a huge flop and i think that brought her back down to earth for a minute to ask herself "Maybe i'm not as great as i think i am?"(no insult intended)
With albums like TISL to follow it up, i shant be complaining... I just avoid listening to the most part of the album, my least favourite would have to be greta, i just hate it with a passion.....:nod:
_________________________________________________________________
Well You Cannot Know A Dream...
Until You've Known The Nightmare...

i dont think kick it is the WORST song on the album...i used to have it on a running tape i used...the lyrics are kind of important wen trying to kick a habit no matter wat that may be...coke, love, cigarettes..porn..watever..i found it helpfull for quitting smoking..the line " i loved u more than life itself..." how true is this of any addict wen it comes to their drug of choice...this REALLY shows the sickness behind any addiction...one would put their addiction before life and /or loved ones...BUT the song(s) that actually made me want to vomit on this album: docklands and love is like a river and that HORRIBLE bob dylan cover...OMG i cant even write it...sorry stevei.. we all have bad days...u could sing row row row ur boat and i would buy ur music..so all is forgiven for those dreadfull song choices..

There is some thought that the song is about her leaving Fleetwood Mac. Go thru the lyrics again, it fits.

Love the elephant guitar solo in this song! I know you all know what I'm talking about!

The first not of the guitar solo sounds like an elephant!!! :nod:

I think "Kick It" is one of Street Angel's best moments, and it's simple resolution of change was a sigh of relief following the numbness the preceded it. Subject-wise, I think her swinging platform boot is connecting with more than just one target - drugs, cycles of destructive behavior, and relationships both personal and professional, because all of those things are connected. The person (or persons) she's leaving is only going to benefit from her departure, because she recognizes that she's an active participant in whatever enabling situation is causing her distress. I think it's less about Fleetwood Mac, and more specifically about an idealized romanticism she actively courted: The High Life, which is defined moreso by excessive wonder than simply drugs or tortured romances with male rock stars.

"Kick It," "Blue Denim," and "Maybe Love" are my favorite tracks on Street Angel, which accurately depicted her state of mind during its belabored recording period, which begs for further investigation. I'm always interested to hear demos, alternate takes, etc. from these sessions because I'm as interested in the process of creating obviously flawed work as much as great work (Why was Inspiration exiled to b-side limbo instead Jane? Why is the album cover art absolute amateur hour in regard to design choice, photography and even technical resolution?)

Missing that one, sure-fire delicate track Stevie always mangages to deliver, Street Angel's quieter tracks comprise the Klonopin Trifecta (Greta, Street Angel and Jane), a trio of equally sluggish, nearly melody-free lost causes. Most of the uptempo rockers (Docklands, Listen to the Rain and Love is Like a River) repeatedly start and stall, each lacking the necessary momentum to actually roll. They're not entirely meritless tracks, but the good bits in each never connect.

Despite overworked production, Unconditional Love's melodic verse finally gives Stevie's voice something sweet to wrap itself around, but the chorus is almost consitpated. (I've heard Susanna Hoffs perform this acoustically, and quite successfully, providing a framework that doesn't induce the kind of strain Stevie endures. Lyrically, Stevie has made prior allusions to drugs, but she's never directly pushed the mirror under our noses, so the directness of Dylan's Just Like a

Woman is interesing, but the presentation is a dirty needle I'd rather not share. She would have benefitted from a stark, haunting arrangement that no one associated with this disc's production is capbable of. (Think Johnny Cash's cover of NIN's Hurt, etc.) I don't mind her recycled lyrics in Destiny, because I don't think she's trying to pull a fast one. She's revisiting something important to her, but with new perspective. I actually prefer the live version from her House of Blues show. Blue Denim, Kick It, Destiny, Rose Garden, and Maybe Love, sound like they belong on the same record and they communicate similar story elements. In regard to sequencing, Kick It should have been the album's closer, if only for its apparent hopefulness.

Jane's inclusion just might the most self-indulgent moment of Stevie's career - and the only time I have ever doubted her sincerity, or been unable to defend her writing. ("The forgotten chimpanzee/In the eyes of the world/You have done so much for me...they might has well put us both into prison...up against the wall Jane.") Her activism began and ended when she composed, performed and released "Jane," and I think the chimps of the world are safer for it. I don't define Street Angel as a failure, because I don't separate it from her body of work.

I'd love to see this material from time period revisited with new production and arrangements, songs, vocals and certainly package design and photography. Even though I'd love to see the entirety of her shoot with David LaChapelle (images below) that were only used for press and one promotional ad. I wonder how she approach some of this material or decisions made with a sober perspective. Would she even include Street Angel and therefore re-title the album? I think we need to start a petition.

Stevie Nicks - Street Angel promo shoot by David LaChapelle

mine too, along with 'Inspiration'

I remember when I heard 'Maybe Love...' on the radio for the first time, I thought for sure she was headed for adult contemporary chart success and that she would rule VH1. I still like that song too, in fact the other day I was listening to my iPod on shuffle and it came on and I smiled. It's a happy song, and to me it speaks a lot about how nice love is.

That's really too bad that it didn't turn out that way!!!

That makes a lot of sense. I'd never thought of it that way.

*guffaws*

I just wish the rock songs on the album were more inspired and better crafted, but other than that I agree with you. Klonopin really ruined what could have been a great rocking album!

I was right there with you all the way through until the last line! I like the album except for a couple of sugary-bubblegum songs that she didn't write. I agree with what you wrote and I like the way you wrote it! But I also like "Jane" very much.

And I like "Kick It" a lot. My favorite line is "I can see you're waited for all over you."

I completely agree with your thoughts about "maybe love.....". It makes me smile when I hear it...but the rest of the album is nothing more than bad writing and bad production. She should have taken Maybe Love and Blue Denim and Inspiration and threw the rest out and started again. Docklands represents Stevie's worst song ever for me....

I enjoy Kick It, it has some excitement in the arrangement and production and some Stevie-lyrics that make me smile, she sounds almost like the real Stevie here. The song almost says something.

The album overall is unfortunate.

To me Rose Garden may be the worst thing she has ever done. No, Street Angel. No, wait, Love Is Like a River.... Unconditional Love.... oh dear....

Unlike the rest of the gang on here, I like Jane.

Love this! Articulate, well written, and very similar to my perspective.

I like Kick It....but I was just hoping the song was going to really "Kick It" with a great title like that.
I just imagined a guitar riff like something from Heart...say Barracuda!

Still, it's probably one of the better ones on SA.

Sorry, but I find Jane to be just an utter embarrassment....

Maybe Stevie will suprise us all and perform it in her next encore.:lol:

I think I'm one of the few who actually likes Street Angel as a whole.

Although I can't even begin to make any excuses for Jane...it's just bad any way you look at it. YIKES!

I really like Kick It. For the sake of conversation, though, I will say I might would like it more if it had a bit more of an edgy sound to it...if that makes sense. When she says line 'I'd prefer to kick it, kick the habit," she says it like she's a bit bored and couldn't bother to muster any great emotion, so it kind of loses something. Perhaps if she could have done something to it to make it a bit more forceful, it would have been more exciting.

This might only be in my head and you may read this like, 'what the hell is she talking about' but I'm thinking if the tone of it had been more similar to FFG, it could have been much better. In her vocal, she attacked FFG and the arrangement was quite edgy...but with Kick It, she didn't attack it. It seems like she just sat back and recorded the song without infusing any sort of interest or emotion into it at all...like whatever habit she's talking about kicking, she can't be bothered to worry about anyway.

I myself am very warmly inclined (or kindly predisposed?) to the album because it's what rekindled my Stevie Nicks thing. I was sick as hell of her--and of Fleetwood Mac--from the late '80s through the early '90s. Those tours of hers and those TV appearances--Arsenio et al.--turned me off completely. I felt she was completely washed up and I had no more interest in her. I couldn't stand any more angels, witches, sisters of the moon, or unicorns. But the SA album gave me something to hum again and something to play on the piano, and the tour that followed, which I saw at Arco Arena, actually compelled me to look for tapes again in Goldmine and to contact other fans. It was a big turning point year for me. Otherwise, I might not have given a damn about all the Stevie Mac horsepucky. (What other fans considered "magic" on the 1989 album, I considered "muzak"--it was repulsive to these ears, such a plummet from the glorious days of "Rhiannon" & "Dreams.")

So I'm kind of still a big fan of SA, especially "Destiny."

Why?

?

The forgotten Chimpanzee?:shrug::p No seriously. I like Jane too.....People maybe just can't get past the chimp thing...I dunno. lol.


Mick

Love it! It's one of the best songs on "Street Angel". The guitar line in this song is what really makes it a hit in my opinion. But lyrically the song is equally successful telling a story about love addiction. "Kick It" is another proof that "Street Angel" project was totally underestimated by fans and critics alike.

Are you sure you're not referring to the remake that Susanna did of Cyndi Lauper's Unconditional Love from A Night To Remember(which is not the same song written by Sandy Stewart)?

Don't hold your breath. :laugh:

Un...un...uni...unicorns? :eek:

You're a pianist, David? Have you shared any of your music on YouTube?

I really want this song on a WORK OUT mix now.

Who said that?