Nightbird appreciation thread
 

"I was not ready for the winter..." Well, I was but it has come kinda late in the season. Those of you in the NE can relate tonight and this week, in general lol!

Anyway, love this song lately. :thumbsup:

One of the first performances that made me fall in love with Stevie.

My favorite part is the overlapping, echoing vocals for the,

And when you call, will you walk gently through my shadow. The ones who sing at night. The ones who sing at night . . .

I think that arrangement gives the song a magical quality and is indeed reminiscent of bird songs, bird calls you might hear tweeted back and forth outside your window as day breaks.

Michele

I remember upon hearing the first 4 lyrics I was hooked. Such a beautifully written song, and as previously stated the chorus with the layered singing is superb. Definitely one of the stand out tracks of WH. :thumbsup:

What is this?

Nightbird performance from Solid Gold.

"Nightbird" has always been one of my all time favorite Stevie songs. I really wish should would have done this on tour (rather than just on TV). The picture sleeve for the single is my favorite sleeve of all of the Stevie/Mac sleeves.

Ahh. It's not showing for me. Speaking of these Solid Gold performances...when were these actually taped? 1984? I remember seeing them back then when they first aired but I can't recall if it was 1983 or 1984. Seems odd that they would've shown them after the songs were off the billboard charts.

I'm in Ma. It has rained all day. We have not had more than a half an inch of snow all Winter. Thank God 'cause I was not ready for the Winter, and my prayers were answered.

I believe they were taped and aired early January 1984. But I'm not completely sure.

The Solid Gold performance is wayyy better than the album version IMO.

Yes and the SNL performance is even better imo. She's a lot clearer and stronger vocally.

One of my least favorite songs from my least favorite Stevie album :sorry:.

One of my very favorite songs from one of my very favorite Stevie albums (and all albums, for that matter...)

Me too, me too!

Really? After the Wild Heart tour? I always believed it was filmed before her SNL performance and right before the tour started, altough I'm not even sure where I got that info from.

I agree...I'm a huge fan of both Solid Gold performances. SNL is another favorite and the band is playing live as well so it's better in that respect...but I just love the vocals and Stevie in red & white on Solid Gold.

Tim

I think this song could have reached greatness if they had made it sound more organic like "Sable on Blond". Meaning real drums and no drum machine, or at least not one that sounds just like the drums machine on "Stand Back". I mean, hello?!, two totally different moods are appropriate for songs with diametrically opposed attitudes. Again, I think "Sable on Blond" has the softer, more mysterious sound that would have pushed this song beyond very good.

You hit the nail on the head! The first time i listened to Nightbird i thought i had made a mistake and played Stand Back again. Musically, i prefer other tracks on the album. Lyrically , it is quite amazing. But Sable on Blonde and Wild Heart remain my favorites on that album.:sorry:

Nightbird is one of my favorites of TWH, love it :blob2:

Love Nightbird; love the Solid Gold performance.. Their voices just sound great together in that..

Agreed. I first heard (and watched) the Solid Gold version, and was really blown away. Then I listened to the album version. God, the arrangment is awful, it takes all the emotions off, it doesn't suit the mood of the song. Still, lyrically, beautiful song (never seen the SNL performance, if anyone has the video...).

Oh, and Stevie's voice is totally NOT natural on the album version. I even prefer her voice on Tusk's Storms.

This is one of my all time favorite songs off my all time fave Stevie solo album as well.....love the synth and her voice is so velvety... and the imagery I had with this song as a little girl was so romantic and Rhiannon like....I could just picture her in that deep purple black hooded cape and that just did it for me.....I was forever a Stevie fan after this album...just adore this. My other faves off this album are WH and Sable. I so wish she would have done NB live at some point besides this Solid Gold performance...we're lucky to have that but it would have been cool to hear it during the Enchanted years or timespace or even CV......she's had 3 chances!!!! C, mon now Stevie...How could she overlook this gem!

"Nightbird" is a good song, but I agree with the above posts that the arrangement and production on the album version are a little off. Drum machines were all the rage in 1983, so Iovine was probably looking for opportunities to utilize then-current trends. But the drum machine just doesn't fit the mood of the song. Great vocal arrangement, though.

I remember being shocked by Stevie's vocal on the verses when I initially heard it. I believe this may have been the first appearance of the "sinking into her sinuses" voice that was so prevalent on RAL. I was surprised they would release something with such a raw vocal. I sometimes wondered if this vocal was one of those examples where she insisted on using the first take (against her producer's advice), as she admitted years later in an interview.

Oh well, it's still a good song and the SNL & Solid Gold versions are far better than the album.

Nightbird is one of my favorites of Stevie's.
The Wild Heart has my top three:

1. Nightbird
2. Beauty And The Beast
3. If Anyone Falls In Love

Not to mention her version of "Suspicious Minds".

Isn't the Solid Gold performance just a live vocal with a recorded backing track? Musically it sounds identical to the album version (that was a normal thing on Solid Gold to have a live vocal over a recorded track, also flat out lip synching was also the norm). I know the SNL performance is entirely live.
As for when this was recorded, that looks like Russ Kunkle on drums, he didn't tour with Stevie for the Wild Heart. He's on the US Fest show, but that was done before the tour began. Liberty DeVito (Billy Joel's drummer) was used for the actualy tour as well as the SNL show. So perhaps this was taped before the tour began knowing that the song was planned as a single??

Probably my most favorite Stevie solo song. Very sensual and mystical. I love how Sandy Stewart and Stevie's voices blend together in the chorus.

The song sums up the essence of Stevie Nicks to me.

Incidentally, here's an acoustic cover version by a singer named Lily Wilson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-8DTP9-kXY

I always thought of "Nightbird" as a "to be continued"of "edge of 17" in a way. LOL! But yes, it is a beautiful song. She should sing it more often.:wavey:

In a way it may be. The song is about Robin's death so it continues the theme started with EOS as well as "Gypsy".

Haven't really payed this performance much attention until now! IT's pretty stellar! Wish it would make its way into a set. It's a FUNNNN song to play on piano! :nod:

Yay! Love Nightbird... hence why I named my band Nightbird! Yay! :]

I have always adored Nightbird and feel like it is a defining song of Stevie's. Lyrically it is poetry in motion not to mention I like to think of myself as a bit of a wild heart. I consider this song more of a duet with Lori as opposed to a Stevie song. I always sing along when I listen to this song and as if I were Lori singing with Stevie. The other day I tried to sing Stevie's part - not pretty. One thing I've always thought though is that the chorus is not as strong as the verses musically. I love "and winter became fall..." but "and when I call you..." I don't enjoy as much. I can't consider it a favorite because I think the chorus could have been stronger although the harmonies are divine!