Behind Blue Denim...theories, proof?!
 

The lyrics to Blue Denim...

Does anyone have any quotes from Stevie regarding who this song is about? I always thought it was an incredible statement about Lindsey, but the timing doesn't line up properly (relating to how long Stevie worked on the Street Angel album and the copyright date on the song). Up until I realized this, my take on it was that it was about seeing Lindsey again for the Inaugural Ball:

"Saw him the other day
Saw him again yesterday
**(Inaugural rehearsals?!)**
I wonder if I'll ever see him again
He reminded me of blue denim"

"I knew him another day
I knew him another way
In some ways he'd forgotten me
In many ways he got to me"
**(Reflection on past relationship and how it felt to see him again?!)**

"I turned away so he couldn't see
I turned away it could never be
I never thought he would walk away
But I lost him again yesterday"
**(She never thought he would walk away from FM but he did in '87, and she writes this after the Inaugural Ball is over:"I lost him again yesterday"?!)**

The end is an almost eerie projection when you look back on it:

"So I'm going away for a little while
To remember how to feel
And if I find the answer
I promise you
I'll come back and get you"
**(Stevie going into seclusion following the SA Tour and then coming full force back into the public eye with The Dance, reunited with Lindsey)**

I'm normally not into analyzing lyrics so intensly, but this kills me every time! Besides, who else does Stevie know with eyes the color of blue denim?! ;) Did anyone ask Stevie about this song on Ask Stevie (not that it will neccesarily help my case, but still...)? Again, any insight or quotes from Stevie would be appreciated.

:wavey:

I think a quote of Stevie's regarding this song was posted recently, I can't remember but if you do a search it'll probably come up. I think Stevie said this song was about a man who dates a homeless girl, and eventually the girl has to make him believe she'd dead because she's bad for him... something like that...I don't think it's about Lindsey.

I think that might have been Street Angel she was talking about. Not 100% positive, but I think I remember that.

Blue Denim I do think is about Lindsey. Maybe part of it is literal (clearly she lost him and she was always seeing him again). She could have tried to reconcile with him at another time that we don't know about, and he may have rejected her. You know how Stevie writes... She might have written some or all of the words eons ago in her journals, and then gone and pulled them out when she was trying to get together songs for Street Angel. :shrug: But, yeah, I agree. It screams Lindsey. Not her most poetic little ditty about him, in my opinion, but the sentiment is clear.

Oh, and just looking at your title - I got NO proof!! :laugh: Just my humble little opinion.

Blue Denim
 

Considering BD is written in the first person, it doesn't seem likely to me that it is about a homeless girl. That sounds like Street Angel. IMHO Blue Denim just screams Lindsey. It is such a melancholy song and sounds like it is totally about seeing him at the Inauguration. This line gets me everytime:
"He runs from the sight"

You can hear the pain and despair in that one line, as if she is reflecting on the power she USED to have over him and now she fears he wants to run from her. (he is successful right now with OOTC..she is a mess, physically, emotionally, career wise)
I think the timeline fits perfectly for it to be about the Inauguration too. Plus, she was at the end of the barrel creatively. Lindsey has always been a source of inspiration for her for some reason. Not to mention she has written about his eyes before.

BTW..no proof..just my own speculation. It's one of the only songs I like on Street Angel.

I heard that Stevie was somewhere Lindsey was (back during SA period) and they saw each other, but it was like he didn't even know who she was...he pretty much looked right through her...and you can see that "story" in the lyrics, if it's true...

Agreed. I also think it was about Stevie seeing Lindsey again at the Inauguration. :nod:

When I hear Street Angel, I think Mick. It screams about the relationship they had in the late 70s. Mick is definately the "Charles Dickens character, with your top hat and scarf." IMO.

Yes, this was about the song Street Angel.

It's okay! I was after humble little opinions as well!

Maybe Stevie did have an encounter with LB prior to the Inuguration that we don't know about? I don't have the CD in front of me, but I think the song is Copyright 1991 or 92. (The Inauguration took place January '93.) Unless she could have copyrighted the song in a slightly different format (perhaps only the parts about him leaving FM were there at that time?) in '91 and added to it after the Inuguration...could she technically do that without "re-copyrighting" it? Again, maybe they did see each other wherever earlier on...maybe they saw each other briefly for the boxed set (though I don't get that impression), or maybe he came to a TimeSpace show (though that seems unlikely to me as well)? :shrug:

Just because I've known of Stevie talking about the "homeless girl story" behind this song since shortly after Street Angel came out, I never thought of this obvious interpretation! If it is in fact about their relationship, it's sure an interesting and creative way to tell the tale. I'll be listening to the song in a whole different way now...

yeah, but so is Stevie. You know, her "Dickensian, street-urchin look?"

It's hard to tell who she's talking about in her songs sometimes since she switches "person" so rapidly back and forth!

I thought that too. I think SA (the song) is about what she says it is about which in a nutshell is the street urchin loving the rich guy so much that she makes him think she is dead because she realizes their love is not enough to sustain a relationship between two vastly diff people. I also think that relates directly to FM, esp. at that time.

Personally, I love this song.

Yeah, but in the same lines..."you went back to the children and the music..." I just think it is about Mick.

:nod: that's what I thought.

I think Street Angel is typical Stevie - about many different things!! She may have explained it away by saying it was about a homeless girl in the way she said the GDW was about groupies and Landslide about trying to make it in the music business. But deeper below, there are probably a few other layers - and Mick may be there, Stevie herself may be there, etc.

I think even if Blue Denim was copyrighted in '91 or '92, it could be about seeing Lindsey again. I remember, too, that incident mentioned above where she said she saw Lindsey and he basically looked right past her (to the white sand... Oh. Sorry. ;) ) Anyway, I think it's more than likely that Stevie and Lindsey may have encountered each other somewhere before the inauguration. They both live in and around LA, and they're both in the music biz. There are parties and events galore they could have been at...

See this is what irritates me. She writes songs and then releases them several years down the road and you can NEVER know exactly who they're about because by the time they're released she's with someone new! Like the stuff on Belladonna is either about Mick or Lindsey (most likely) but she was with Paul Fishkin or Jimmy Iovine (or some such nut) at the time of recording/release and you're like, huh? Now, who is this about? :laugh: