Lindsey's lyrics
 

I've always wondered about this because Lindsey isn't renowned as a lyricist, yet I find that so many of his songs have such great lyrics that compliment his music and singing and are able to create emotional resonance. I think about Bleed to Love Her and how expressive that phrase is...I love these lines especially:

"And once again she calls to me
Then she vanishes in thin air
And how she takes my breath away
Pretending that she don't care"

I interpret it as a man who is in love with a woman who is kind of back and forth herself, yet even when she appears to care less he still pines for her, knowing that her seeming lack of interest is only on the surface. That happens so much in life, eh?

I love the words in Turn It On because they are so positive and uplifting. There's two different meanings for me: someone has died, you're sad, but you have the be strong for someone else, for yourself, and for the person who has passed:

Now, someone is dead and gone
The hurt that you feel makes you strong
Time is allowed
Make him proud
Just go out and turn it on

Then also, the song could be about whatever becomes of your life is a result of your choices and actions:

You can love, you can hate, you can laugh, you can cry
You can run for your life, you can live, you can die..."

But right now, I think I've been really getting into Wait For You and in particular these lines:

Is it just that we must is it here that we gear?
Is it only that we're lonely is it there that we dare
Is it lies that we fight is it whores we adore
Is it god with a rod taking more more more

To me, they're broken up thoughts jumbled together. Like life. Lots of questions, ifs, and, buts, should Is, maybes, and all of them at various points of confusing moments, much like the state of the world, or even on our own lives. I appreciate that he made a song like this.

And the "No one knows my name" line seems to be both personal, and maybe someone who feels they have lost their identity.

That's all for now! I'm going to listen to some more. I think his lyrics could be under appreciated as well, lol!:lol:

I agree with you Nico, I think LB's lyrics are under appreciated. As much as I love lyrics, I can go for long periods listening to a song, taking it in, loving it...before I really read the lyrics. What amazes me about Lindsey is, when you finally look at his words--they just aren't that wordy! His song lyrics look sparse, lonely sometimes...yet they convey a novel's-worth of emotion and feeling. I don't know how he does it, but he makes every word count. You can tell that he spends an equal amount of time crafting the words as he does crafting the music, the production and the recording.

Some of my favorite lines are from UTS, where he seems to get a bit wordier, but no less cryptic. I like cryptic! Like this from Show You How:

You can float downstream let the past
be the past
You can wake up from a dream and find
your other half
Resurrection will come apparition will go
And the shadow singer will stand
and linger
In places no one ever goes

and from Under The Skin:

When the shadows fall on the one-way wall
And you feel so small where do
you belong
When your soul falls out and you're
filled with doubt
And the silhouettes shout where do
you belong

Of course, there are boatloads of great lyrics from Out Of The Cradle, like this from Soul Drifter:

I'm a soul drifter
And I'm out of this town
Ain't no use hangin' 'round
You see
My heart was broken
My part was spoken
Now the ground has opened
All around me

Isn't it amazing that those few words are half of the entire song? Yet he gets an entire story out in what could be one sentence. You see the heartbroken man, leaving town because he lost the love of his life, and now his whole word is falling apart. Can't you just imagine the scene in a movie?...nighttime, rain falling, he walks slowly away from her door, thinking about her, not wanting to leave but compelled by circumstance to go, he is filled with sadness & uncertainty. As he makes his way to the train station, he begins to come to terms with what has happened, it's "out of his hands" and he must move on. But it's a new dawn, and he is hopeful, even healed as he begins his search for love anew.

Great writers leave the best bits out, and let you use your own imagination to fill in the blanks. That's what Lindsey does. He gives you everything you need, and nothing that you didn't ask for. Thanks Lindsey!

Those are fantastic examples. I think Lindsey has only grown as a lyricist. Though, I must admit I absolutely LOVE the minimalistic side of his Tusk songs. I think something like That's Enough For Me is so powerful because it says so much in so few words. He used a lot of phrases that were equal to a thousand words. I appreciate artists like Dylan or Ani DiFranco for their use of language, but sometimes, like you said, you can say so much in just a few words.

In this way, I believe, Lindsey really doesn't give himself enough credit. He often says his strength isn't in songwriting, yet he has written so many beautiful, complexly layered songs with incredibly strong, poignant lyrics. Countdown and Something's Gotta Change Your Mind are two songs that I would consider absolutely perfect in every way. And there are so many more.

But in terms of minimalistic lyrics, do you think Go Your Own Way would own? I mean, well, it's a landmark of a tell-off in not so many words.

Lindsey has certainly grown as a lyricist, yet even in the seventies he could undo me.

Many times, if you're just reading the words on paper, they seem insubstantial, but combine them with his vocal accents and something is expressed that really goes beyond words. I say vocal accents, because he doesn't convey messages with his singing per se. The yelps, screams, and staccato bursts seem to yank meaning from his core. Primal.

One of the simplest lyrics that get me is "don't say that you love me." To me, it means that love never stopped anyone from inflicting hurt and love never stopped them from leaving. So, don't talk about love. Sometimes love doesn't matter. Sometimes, it's not enough. So, he pushes love aside as being inconsequential and insufficient. Just say that you want me.

And maybe it's because he writes the music first, so often the barest lyrics seem so layered. With a few short words, he builds concepts in my head that I always come back to. Fate takes time. I guess I need to be amazed. Melodies awaken sorrows from their sleep.

Now, starting with Miranda and then flowering into the UTS songs, his lyrics could frequently and consistently serve as standalone poetry. So, there's been a definite evolution in the last few years, but I found his words penetrating long before that.

Michele

I prefer his lyrics to Stevie's on Say You Will. Yep. I said it Stevie lovers. Hate me.

But Miranda is absolute perfection. I don't understand it all the way. I read that it was about Anne Heche, who I know nothing about because I care less for that woman than my old socks, but it sounds a little harsh. Like she's the kind of woman who compromises for no one and is a fame-seeker (I believe that), but has had a lot of sadness in her own life.

I love that song. I think it should have been a single over Peacekeeper (boo) and Say You Will (hiss).

This reminds me: I heard Peacekeeper on the radio the other day. :shocked:

I hate SYW (the song).

Say You Will (the song) is dreadful. I think only in a bedridden state of delirium could I ever possibly sit through the entire thing without cringing. I detest it. And what is worse than this song? The live version, with the "I'm a little teapot" dance and the slow, monotone chorus.

Peacekeeper is a little better but not much. Those two are my LEAST favorite songs on the album, along with Silver Girl. ;)

I think the song addresses the sadness in her life. In her book she writes that she went mad and thought she was God. I think that's in the song. She also talks about sexual abuse at the hands of her father. I think that's in the song. To the extent that she stalks fame like its heroin (another spectacular lyric), I don't think it's for self-aggrandizement in the song. I think it's a way to shut out the pain, maybe it's a last ditch effort to escape madness, a way to get out of oneself, because what's inside is so terrifying.

I don't see the song as a condemnation, really, but when you say harsh, yeah that's what I think of the "think of me sweet darling whenever you don't come . . ." line. But then again, the song may be an amalgamation and I don't know if that's meant for Anne.

I would have gone with SYW as the single, just because it's more commercial and I wanted the album to have mass appeal.

I don't think Stevie's lyrics are her best on that album -- although Thrown Down is -- some of those words go into my Top 10. I'm also very admiring of the story that EFO tells. Actually, I didn't expect that from Stevie any more than I expected Miranda from Lindsey.

If you'd given me the songs to read and I didn't know who wrote what, I would guess Miranda belonged to Stevie.

Listening to Stevie's radio interview, I liked the way she likened the switch (from angry to something else) in Fall From Grace to Lindsey's NGBA. I don't really interpret NGBA the way Stevie does, but I do appreciate the way she juxtaposed the messages.

She says FFG is angry, but in the end the anger is founded on love and she reveals she just wants to save him from falling off a cliff, because she doesn't think he'll be happy. She thinks with NGBA he's saying he's through with her, but then in the end he changes course, says come down and see me some time and reveals he still wants her. I don't agree with her comparison, but I like to hear her make it. I like it alot.

Michele

Silver Girl is definitely my least favorite on the album. I might have liked RTTG with a little tightening. But you put that back to back with Silver Girl and it's deadly. Just a little cyanide tablet.

Stevie told us who sequenced Rumors, but who sequenced SYW? That person should do time.

Michele

Michele: I did not know that about Anne Heche. Wow, she should thank Lindsey for making her seem an interesting person (as opposed to total nut case) in such an amazing song. I do feel bad about her situation with her dad, though. That's a shame.:distress:

Ok, I pretty much LOVE the album Say You Will, but I do agree that the sequencing is off. I'm not too keen on WTWCT being followed by Murrow because I think it takes away from the effectiveness of the latter which (to me) is such an amazing piece of work, yet seems to lose a little of it's singular power while following the louder, more in-your-face quality of the former.

My favorite Stevie songs are Thrown Down, Destiny Rules, Illume, EFO, and Smile At You (I'm apparently the only one who likes the way that one turned out). Her lyrics in Thrown Down and Illume are fantastic, but the rest...eh...:o

I'm going to go back to Fall From Grace and hear it through. I'm unsure of the history of that song but I'm curious to learn more.

I like Stevie's NGBA analogy...was this a new interview?

I know this is getting OT but one more thin: in the "Destiny Rules" doc when Lindsey is lying on the couch with the headphones listening to Thrown Down and the lines

"You can sit outside his door and wait
Well, you can dedicate your pain to him..."

Does anyone else think it's so cute when he says "I like the last part of that especially" and then smiles, like "yeah, woman, that's about me..." Little humble Lindsey. ;)

Yes, it's an audio interview that Stevie just did. Peter posted the interview for us in this thread: http://www.ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/sh...4&postcount=13

I really hate to watch a video or listen to something, because it's so time consuming as opposed to reading, but I think the Lindsey part of this interview is really worth hearing. From the beginning (when TISL first came out) she said FFG is about being on the road with Fleetwood Mac. And sometimes she'd say Mick and Lindsey. Then she would say, but it's mostly about her and Lindsey and it's the angriest song she's ever written. In concert she'll say that the song has a lot of anger, but a lot of love as well. So, she's said that for 7 years.

In this recent interview she says the angry song is about Lindsey and the interviewer marvels that after all these years Lindsey is still able to push her buttons. She says he is, but that he tries not to do it so much. She says she really doesn't want to be angry with him anymore and they don't "unleash" on each other as much anymore and then she gives that rote line about him living in girl land and taking girls to ballet class and basketball practice. He came from a family of three boys and was into sports and everything (but is still rather feminine himself, but I guess she hasn't noticed that) and having girls is new for him and has softened him. Blah, blah, blah.

But about FFG she says although it's angry at the end it turns around. She can't remember the ending lyrics (and the interviewer says he can't remember them either, although it's just on the tip of his tongue) but she thinks the lyrics are about having done it all for him. And she says that was her angrily telling Lindsey not to jump off the cliff, because she didn't think it would make him happy. So basically she's saying she's so mad in the song because she cares. And she compares it to NGBA where he's saying he never wants to go back and then in the end turns it around and says come on down and see me again, proving that he DOES want to go back. She said this about NGBA a long time ago too. She says she thinks it's the sweetest thing Lindsey has ever said to her.

I don't think it means what she thinks it means, but actually Second Hand News does kind of mean that, in a more raunchy way. I think she likes SHN too the way she performs it. I've never heard her say she likes it though.

Oh, you're not the only one who likes the SYW version of Smile at You. It's not my favorite song on the album, but I don't think that version is inferior to Stevie's other versions, in any way.

In her book, Anne Heche said she had a split personality in her twenties and one of the alter egos was called "Celestia," whom she believed was a reincarnation of God. Heche described meeting Lindsey on a plane in a way I thought was really cute. He was listening to a cassette titled "drums" and she asked if he was a drummer and he said no, but he didn't say what or who he was. They talked. He gave her his name and number and it wasn't until later when she was telling a friend about the mystery guy that the friend told her who "Lindsey Buckingham" actually was.

Michele

Stevie said she wrote the song in 1998 and by explaining she was telling Lindsey not to jump off a cliff in her lyrics, well . . .

To compare the latest FFG analysis to what she said when the song first came out, this is her in two 2001 interviews:

A different interview:

Thanks Michele. I'm going to listen to the interview. I kind of like FFG, but it's not one of her more accessible songs (for me)> I really prefer Stevie when she's isn't rocking too much. Don't take that the wrong way, but I have always felt she was more powerful with the slower to mid-tempo stuff. Everything on Tusk by her is perfect. I worship that Stevie period.

One more thing: I think it's endearing that she says Lindsey's in "girl land" with these daughters, but unless the man is sitting around each day enduring hours of consistent Barbie, tea parties, Hannah Montana, Polly Pocket, American Girl, etc. it's hard to picture Lindsey immersed in this little girl would. I think I've got to see the pink nails. Just once. I'll buy it.

It is cute that he has those little girls, though. But wait until they're teenagers. I will pray in advance for him because those two, for some reason, don't appear like quiet little things. ;)

I thought it was hysterical when the interviewer asked was it "karmic revenge" that Lindsey had 2 girls now and lived in Stevie's aptly named "girl land" - and Karen busted out laughing. :laugh:

Recently, on NGBA, Lindsey has said the meaning for the song has changed to him. I would interpret the "place" that he's never going back to has changed since his initial writing - for instance, he now says he's not going back to the darkness/loneliness, rather than as I thought of it previously as never going back to Stevie...

I don't like FFG. I prefer songs with more of a melody. The best I can say about it is that I admire her for keeping it in the setlist. It's not familiar. It's not what people expect for her, but she committed to it and for the long haul, not just for TISL. So, that was unusual for her and I applaud it.

I don't imagine Lindsey in "Girl Land." But in the People magazine article it does say that Lee Lee liked to help him do his hair. Reeve Lindbergh wrote about her father once. He was said to be cold and austere, but she recalled how he used to have "comb over" hair that grew long, to cover his bald spot and he used to let her braid that long hair when she was playing around. So, she thought he couldn't be all that cold, if he tolerated that.

I'd love to see Lindsey sitting there letting the girls play in his hair when they were toddlers.

In that interview the guy did talk about their coming a day when young men would come around to take Lindsey's daughters out on a date. That was funny to think about.

Michele