'Battle of The Dragon' mood
 

For the past few days I am very interested in listening to this fine old track.
Who's got the details about it, other than it was on the soundtrack to 'American Anthem'?
I am curious what year it was recorded, who produced it, and who played on the track. Also, besides that one demo I've heard with Tom Petty, are there any other versions floating around, in particular are there reels where they are laying down the actual track and vocals? I think the vocals are very good, especially towards the end when the ladies and Stevie all come together almost like a choir at the end of the final verse, the "Whoahhh! NO ONE walks away, from this battle..." part.

I love this song a lot! I think there are two or three demos floating around. To my knowledge it is written about Fleetwood Mac and Tom Petty and Bob Dylan from her trip to Australia with these two men in 1986.

Where did you hear/read that? :shrug: This song is about drugs, hon'!

I often get in a mood where I have to listen to this over and over. It was produced by Gordon Perry.

Well, same thing.

I was really surprised when I found out it was recorded in 1986/7, I honestly thought it was a demo from the Bella Donna / Wild Heart era when I first heard it, it's a brilliant song and the vocals are pretty incredible.

I don't know when the American Anthem track was recorded, but the song was intended originally for her third solo album. Rob played me some old demos of it -- I think the recordings with Petty & the Heartbreakers -- from 1984 or possibly 1985. Lori Perry called Rob when she learned that he had recordings of it, & that may have been the reason it was pulled from the solo album.

Would anyone be able to post it? I've not heard :eek:

Why do you think it's about drugs?

David is correct, BOTD was recorded for possible inclusion on RAL, the original demos were recorded with what sounds like a wasted Tom Petty & Stevie barely mumbling through the melody during an impromptu session. I don't think this was ever meant to be a duet, but was just them messing around with an 8 track near by. The final recording happened sometime after Jimmy aborted his producing duties, which places this recording between late 1984 to 1985 when Stevie was working w/ several different producers, including Lori's ex-husband Gordon Perry, who ran a studio in Dallas where they ended up recording the track with him as the producer.

The song ended up on the cutting floor as a finished outtake, just as Sleeping Angel did from Bella Donna, and Violet & Blue from the Wild Heart , only to eventually see the light as soundtrack attractions.

Danny Goldberg (who had a long standing business partnership w Stevie and was one of the principle people to form Modern Records for Stevie's solo career) was the executive soundtrack producer for the American Anthem record which was released June 1986 on Atlantic. He no doubt tapped Stevie's vault of leftovers to add to this soundtrack which fit the movie's theme of doubt/struggle's to come out a victor in the end. Several FM AOR radio stations played this track (same w/ Violet & Blue). I remember hearing it on the radio early summer of 86' in Denver before it's release and being blown away!!!!

More geeky tidbits on the BOTD. Stevie wrote the lyrics, Music was written by John Jarvis & Gary Nicholson- who also wrote the music to Running Through the Garden, which was also a RAL outtake). The song was mixed by John Kovarek & Gordon Perry and engineered by John Kovarek, Tom "Gordo" Gondolf & Ray Kennedy. Stevie re-mixed the song w/ one of the Lord-Alge brothers in 1991 (as well as Violet & Blue & Sleeping Angel) for possible inclusion on Timespace, which ended up as a UK CD B-side to "Sometimes It's a Bitch".

That's awesome, thanks for the info. There is something so lovely about the music..

Alternatively, how can it NOT be about drugs?

This may be a twist on the old adage "disappear from the face of the earth." She has decided to go to rehab.

She is referring to someone specific (or multiple someones) who is actively abusing. Since she has notoriously equated being in a band like FM as being in the army, "soldier" may be a euphemism for a rocker in a band. She is basically saying "you can kill yourself with drugs, but I'm gonna sober up and I'm going to miss you when you die."

The dragon is her addiction to drugs- so powerful, so strong. But it's a private struggle- your friends can only help so much. And it never ends. You learn to live with addiction, but you're never cured of it.


This is her tribute to dead rock stars.

Stevie is confronting the abuser here. She knows he has been out partying up a storm. And the excuse that it's hard to write songs while sober is not enough of an excuse to keep using. Stevie had an epiphany and decided to get clean so she can "stay among the living."

Given the timeframe this song was written in, I get the feeling that Stevie was considering rehab for at least a couple of years before she finally relented and went. And considering that she was still lit up like a Christmas tree when RAL was finally released, as well as on the subsequent tour, it probably didn't seem appropriate to include a song about getting clean when she really wasn't.

Just my own speculation.

http://www.buckinghamnicks.net/sn/so...thedragon.html

Bunch of opinions on the song.

HejiraNYC when she sings "you say someone's looking for you...", I guess she's saying someone's drug dealer is after them. Else, the police.

And when she sings "when your friends start asking you why...", that reminds me of 'Imperial Hotel' where 'he' says to 'her' "why do you do it?"

I always thought the "you say someone's looking for you" line is a reference to the feeling of paranoia one gets once one comes crashing back down to earth after being euphoric on drugs. That's why she quickly adds "ooh... nothing is wrong."

Here's a sentence in a Miami Herald review that interprets the song as relating to drugs.

Miami Herald (FL), April 24, 1998

Section: Weekend

STEVIE NICKS

HOWARD COHEN Herald Arts Writer

* Enchanted: The Enchanted

Works of Stevie Nicks Modern/Atlantic

These are heady days for Stevie Nicks, a rock original. Hipsters like Courtney Love, Sarah McLachlan and Sheryl Crow are singing Nicks' praises. Fashion designers Anna Sui and Isaac Mizrahi are giving her accolades. And Nicks herself is still on a high after taking part in Fleetwood Mac's acclaimed reunion last year. So revisiting Nicks' best on a new three-CD, 46-track box set devoted to her solo career makes sense.

Enchanted (due in stores Tuesday) makes a strong case for how well Nicks' '80s music has held up. Tuneful and well-crafted hits like Stand Back (her collaboration with an uncredited Prince) and If Anyone Falls still come across as engaging.

Long before the Lilith Fair, Madonna or Alanis, Nicks (who turns 50 in May) asserted herself on tunes like Stop Draggin' My Heart Around (with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers), her movie songs Heavy Metal 's Blue Lamp (her finest non-Mac moment) and Against All Odds' Violet and Blue , the aggressive Edge of Seventeen (here, we get a previously unreleased live version), the hard-rocking Gold and Braid (a live performance from the 1981 Bella Donna tour, on which Nicks held her own surrounded by members from the E Street Band and the Heartbreakers) and Reconsider Me (featuring Don Henley on harmonies).

But Enchanted is most valuable for what it reveals. Like Tori Amos' songwriting, Nicks' cryptic lyrics have always puzzled nonbelievers yet fascinated those willing to dig deeper. A throwaway song when first buried on 1986's American Anthem soundtrack, the now-resurrected Battle of the Dragon is compelling in the context of Nicks' later admission of a cocaine addiction. ``Well I got the message / Stay among the living,'' she urges. ``I can and I will go on.''

Disc One's emphasis on much-needed remastering of her first two solo albums ( Bella Donna and The Wild Heart ) is essential, and Disc Three is Enchanted 's raison d'etre for its many strong rarities, including the first CD appearance of a 1973 Buckingham Nicks track, Long Distance Winner .

But Enchanted may disappoint fans who already own her six solo albums. Disc Two is taken up by cuts from her weakest effort, 1985's Rock a Little (which didn't rock at all).

Also: Missing are obscure early-'80s duets Smiling Islands (with Robbie Patton) and I Pretend (with Sandy Stewart), as well as bootlegged material that diehards have swapped via the Internet (like Sorcerer , Nomad or her children's tale, Goldfish & Ladybug ). Maybe next box set.

[And for the heck of it, while I was searching] St. Louis Dispatch review, May 1, 1998

Section: EVERYDAY MAGAZINE

REVIEW CDS

"ENCHANTED"

Stevie Nicks/Atlantic Records

If there's one thing that can finally torpedo sales of Fleetwood Mac's long-running hit album "The Dance," as well as cut into sales of that various artists tribute album to FMac's "Rumours," it's "Enchanted," the long-awaited, three-CD box set from Stevie Nicks.

Traditionally, box sets don't sell well because they're too expensive. And people interested enough to shell out that much money probably already have the original albums or own a greatest hits set or two.

But "Enchanted" could be the exception. Why? Because the timing is perfect, coming on the heels of "The Dance" and Fleetwood Mac's successful tour last year.

"Enchanted" focuses on Nicks' solo career, which might disappoint those looking to hear "Dreams," "Sara," "Gold Dust Woman" and other Fleetwood Mac tunes associated with her. But there's enough on this ambitious 46-song collection (including a piano demo version of "Rhiannon" that defines the word delicate) to appease those fans.

The songs from "Enchanted" come from all over the place, though predominantly from her solo albums such as "Bella Donna" and "Rock A Little." In addition to the expected hits and popular album cuts, a number of other Nicks songs are unearthed, including b-sides, soundtrack cuts, demos, covers, duets, a pre-Fleetwood Mac song, live versions, outtakes, and even a new song, "Reconsider Me," written by Warren Zevon.

Whew! It covers a lot of ground, and like most box sets, it is draining after a while. It's easier to take in smaller doses, maybe one CD at a time. But "Enchanted" does live up to its title, thanks of course to Nicks' mesmerizing vocals heard throughout.

Her controlled quiver of a voice is perfectly showcased on a number of pop-rock gems such as "Blue Denim," "Nightbird," "Gold" (a duet with John Stewart), and the title track. She's all ablaze on a lengthy live version of "Edge of Seventeen" and "Gold and Braid."

Her occasional country leanings show on "After the Glitter Fades" and "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," though quaint folk takes over on "Leather and Lace" and "Garbo." There are also swelling ballads such as "Beauty and the Beast" and "Kind of Woman."

"Twisted" is a rough-and-ready demo from two years ago, while the excellent "Long Distance Winner" from 1973's "Buckingham/Nicks" album sounds like a demo (it isn't), but at least it sounds like a great demo.

Nicks' voice, such a musical treasure, even manages to bring life to "Battle of the Dragon" from the "American Anthem" soundtrack - a bad song from a bad movie.

A 1984 issue of the old Stevie fanzine Dreams listed "Battle of The Dragon" as being recorded for Stevie's third album. So, the demos are from 1984.

One demo has the drugged-out Tom & Stevie stubling around, while another has a more coherent Stevie mostly solo, with Tom barely heard.

One line I like in the demos is "Who's gonna win the war?"

I've always always loved this song....one of her best too me. I've always though her vocals were early RAL(84 ish)...they never sounded like late RAL vocals too me.....one of the best songs probably in my top ten for sure.....great song!!:D

I believe the line is "But after some calls" and not "But after some cause."

I believe that BATTLE OF THE DRAGON is about the ancient feud between the Ying warlords & the Ming Dynasty. Thousands of lives were lost, & trade was brought to a standstill. At battle's end, fireworks were set off over the Bridge of Prang-Mukluk, where a barge carrying the empress & her small retarded son ran aground. The citizens of Taipei celebrated by roasting pigs on spits & drank the juice of the dingleberry until their hearts were merry, for they knew that the next morning they would have to get up & go to work.

JUICE OF THE DINGLEBERRY??

oh, david.

Interesting about the drug references. I maybe thought about it here and there but never really concluded that it was about her drug problems. I also wonder how much of it relates to her relationship with Joe Walsh who, like and with Stevie, had a huge drug problem back when they were dating.

This came out mid 86? Late? I don't remember. But I remember really liking it and wondering why she hadn't recorded more stuff like this for RAL.

http://www.inspiredangel.com/index2.php

As you can see, some of the lines appear to be inspired by the film Julia (go to inspirations, then BOTD). I have seen the movie, but I don't know why they were so significant to Stevie. The links below may be more accurate as to what was in the film.

http://www.subzin.com/s/and%20a%20ha...o%20shoot%20it
http://www.subzin.com/s/who%20were%2...h%20in%20paris
http://www.subzin.com/s/lilly%20list...ot%20listening