striaght back questions
 

does anyone know what this song is about? who she wrote it about? and does anyone have alternate takes or demos of the song?

Stevie didn't know what to say, & wasn't sure which card to play, because her dream hadn't ended, but it had gone away. But Stevie's fingers alit upon the ivory keys (of the piano, presumably) & began to begin to write a song, which for some reason or other reminded her of a running timber wolf (canis lupus) -- or one beginning to begin to run. I guess either one would be just as good. At one point, Stevie was in the wind -- possibly on her balcony with her arms outstretched & her chiffon blowing wildly, or maybe just sitting down so the dirt wouldn't get in her eyes -- & it was during that time that Stevie found something she had lost. What was this lost thing? A dream.

This occurred during or immediately after Stevie (or the Stevielike girl in the song) spent several hours waiting for someone -- or something (like a dream). This person -- or thing, or dream, or running wolf -- was very strong but fleeting.

Later, Stevie remembered just how good it was! (which can only mean sex)

So maybe she remembered a sexual encounter (in the shadow of my shadow is an especially sexual image, akin to Dame Edna's reference to her dead husband's member -- "Norm's needle," she calls it -- & how others visiting the cemetery where Norm is buried met "under Norm's needle").

It's also possible that Stevie did NOT have a sexual encounter (I know, I know) ... & remembered only her having had a memory of such & such, perhaps not sure whether the sex was real or whether the memory of the sex was even real -- or even whether the dream about the sex (or the dream about the memory of the sex) was real.

But, then, what is real?

And, that, my friend, is "Straight Back."

The first part reminds me of Icarus.

Michele

i have no idea where i read this, possibly it was posted a while ago, but someone said stevie wrote straight back about john mcvie and christine mcvie...before i get yelled at, i just want to say i did not come up with that notion. but it is a intrigueing idea....hmmmm

Me too :)

I've always loved Straight Back and wish they'd done it more.

Here's one of my fave versions:
https://www.yousendit.com/download/Y...K3hRWUkwTVE9PQ MP3

Straight Back Early Take:
https://www.yousendit.com/download/Y...dENvQUkwTVE9PQ Mp3

Straight Back Demo # 1 (I like Christine on this, I wish the sound were better .)
https://www.yousendit.com/download/Y...T00wZ2xjR0E9PQ MP3

Straight Back Demo # 2
https://www.yousendit.com/download/Y...Zy9LVlUwTVE9PQ MP3

Straight Back Mirage Rehearsal (I wish the sound were better on this one too.)
https://www.yousendit.com/download/Y...WkIzS3J2Wmc9PQ MP3


~Maria

I want to tape this to my refrigerator.

And lest we forget "Rolling Onthefloorus":laugh:

Haha...bizarre...

I always thought the song was about Fleetwood Mac not breaking up...or almost breaking up after the TUSK tour. Then, they got back together for the Mirage thing..."she remembers how good it can be...she remembers a melody"..?

Originally the three songs Stevie was supposed to have on "Mirage" were "That's Alright", "Gypsy" and "Smile At You". But Lindsey said that wasn't the direction they were taking the album so "Smile At You" was dropped (too bad too because that version is vastly superior to the "Say You Will" version). Anyhow, I believe Stevie then came up with "Straight Back" which musically sounds somewhat like the original "Smile At You". I think "Straight Back" falls into the same category as "I Don't Want To Know" in that it was a replacement song and may have been written very quickly to replace something else.

I too had heard this or read it somewhere around the time Mirage came out.

Remember how Lindsey has said that there were times where he had the urge not to help Stevie with her songs?

"Straight Back" is the prototypical example.

I adore this song and is possibly my favorite Stevie penned FM song. I always thought it centered around Stevie's solo career and her ever present ties to Fleetwood Mac...she was going "straight back" to them after she was done with Bella Donna. I think it has to do with her loyalty to the band.

For me, the best part of the song is the "hours and hours of waiting this way . . ."

Michele