Let's Talk About...THROWN DOWN...
 

Thought I'd take a turn at this thread and throw a bit of a random one in there! Since we've done Sara, Angel and Storms I thought a more recent track could be good...

I personally think this is the best song Stevie has written for the Mac in years! It's her best since Seven Wonders and for me is the undoubted highlight of Say You Will (an album that I seem to have a higher opinion of than many others). I'd love to hear it live but don't rate my chances much, which is a real shame.

So, what are everyone's thoughts on this track? How does it compare with her earlier stuff? What do you think it's about? How do you rate her vocal etc...? Anything really..

I absolutely LOVE the vocal we see her laying down in the recording studio in Destiny Rules. Those lst few lines are delivered brilliantly, as Lindsey says. It's also the subject of that infamous "you wouldn't tell Bob Dylan how to write" discussion, which I love Stevie for! How dare Lindsey try to change her lyrics? haha!

I know Stevie has said that this song is about Lindsey and was written around the time of The Dance tour about the "barricades of time" between them. I've read in other threads about how people think there may have been something between them briefly back then and the lyrics to this song definitely bear that out. Even if it was just a random hook up with an ex - Hell, who hasn't done that?!

I find it really interesting that Stevie takes such a strange perspective on their relatinship in this song though, if that is what it's about. "He fell for her again, she watched it happen" and "she watched it all come into play". The woman just seems very passive, which I think is unusual for Stevie's songs. Instead of her feelings it's her observations of whoever the guy is and then it goes on to just describe how he pleaded with her that he'd changed etc: "maybe now he could prove to her that they should be together" Does anyone think we get anything about how the woman may feel or is it just her saying what he did at the time?

Phew - that went on for a bit there!

Also, random fact - has everyone noticed that this song is used in Season 9 of Friends? The One With The Soap Opera Party. It plays in the background. I noticed this years ago when I first saw the episode and was really chuffed!

Let the discussion begin...

Hey I never knew that about Friends - awesome!!

I like "Thrown Down" but I don't really like how it sounds on the album. :shrug: I love the demos that are out there of it though. And I love Stevie's lyrics. And I actually like the instruments on it. I guess I just don't like it altogether.
I'm just not completely obsessed with it like I am with almost all of her other songs!

Has anybody heard the center channel of "Thrown Down"? It's really cool -- pretty much just all Stevie vocals with some drumming in the background.

No!! Where can I hear this? I've actually never heard any demos of Thrown Down. Actually, I've heard shockingly few Say You Will demos at all. Love to hear some Thrown Down ones though.

I'm putting three demos and the CCM up on Mediafire right now -- give me about 15 minutes!

3 Demos and a CCM
 

Thrown Down #1:
http://www.mediafire.com/?ggiwxj3mbty

Thrown Down #2:
http://www.mediafire.com/?txb23wknkkm

Thrown Down #3 (Wall of Sound):
http://www.mediafire.com/?nzgnztemzi3

Thrown Down from the center channel mix of Say You Will - really cool, just Stevie's vocal and some drumming:
http://www.mediafire.com/?yfwlyewgzyz

Thanks! These are great. Not sure about the Wall of Sound one at all, it's too much! The CCM is very good though! So, back to the discussion...

I personally consider Thrown Down my fave Stevie song, if not my favorite song ever. It's like 'Gypsy' but with understandable lyrics, which I formed a personal connection with. I lovelovelove the SYW version, however I also like the Wall of Sound mix-it's one of the few Mac demos I put on my iPhone. On this note- I also have a deep love for Running Through the Garden. :D

Love Thrown Down- a couple of people were mentioning it on this board and I had never heard the song, so I thought I better go listen. Terrific lyrics, great vocals, definitely one of my favorites!

I love this song too...Thrown Down is one of my favorites from the album. Amazing lyrics, and Lindsey did a good job on this one too. It is one of those I never tire of and has a touching message.

I am biased, I like the 'Wall of Sound' version best. I guess because it's the first version I heard. I still believe this to be one of the songs produced by Sheryl Crow for Trouble In Shangri La, not a Mac demo. especially if you watch Destiny Rules, the demo Stevie sends to the band before her arrival, and the version the band works on throughout the documentary is basically what ended up on Say You Will. I suspect Thrown Down is one of her songs that she said sounded more like the Mac, and she held them for the band. I agree, one of her better songs in years, especially within the band.

I very much consider it a Mac song, probably because I've only ever heard it on Say You Will and Destiny Rules. It was only today that I heard the Trouble In Shangri-La demo. I didn't know that it had been worked on with Sheryl at all. Having heard a few demos of the song today the only one I really like is the Centre Channel Mix. The Wall of Sound one just doesn't do it for me at all. Oh well.

Yes, I think there was some kind of cross-promotion. I believe there was a song used on Third Watch too.

Michele

My favorite line from this is, "you've lost your faith in me" and the response is no, I've lost faith in everything else. What a wonderful way to express the singlemindedness of love and how if you lose your hope, loyalty, security, confidence in that, it can disable all the other mainstays in your life.

I still believe in you, but I don't believe in the world.

Also, I love the line in Lindsey's song, "I have no faith today." I take that as a response to Thrown Down, especially since it's a random sentence and doesn't flow naturally from the lyrics.

Michele

Michele, what song are you talking about?

I love Thrown Down, It's one of my favorites.
"Faith is a hard thing to hold on to."
"Maybe now he could prove to her, that he could be good for her, and they should be together"
Great lyrics, great tune, I don't ever get tired of it!
-Lily

Definite Lindsey song, which in my opinion points even more to the feelings that Stevie and Lindsey were together during "The Dance" era, a theory which I whole-heartedly agree with.

The lines -
'Maybe now he could prove to her
That he could be good for her
That they should be together'

Interesting. It seems Stevie seems reluctant for anything to get "serious", but Lindsey is the pursuer. Contrary to how Stevie would like us to perceive her, I've never felt her to be, like Dodfather said earlier, the passive one in the relationship. The one being sought after. I've always felt her to be the one putting up the chase.

Seems she felt the relationship was doomed from the beginning, which I guess shows she's lost some of her romantic spirit, considering cursed pairings seem to be her forté.

'You say you're sorry...
Now you should walk away
But it's so overwhelming,
You have nothing left to say
You can sit outside his door and wait
Well, you can dedicate your pain to him'

Stevie often seems to refer to herself as "her" or "she". Strange in this case but I feel the "you" is her self-reflecting. She's obviously broken hearted that she had to walk away from the relationship. But she wants to get out to save herself? Maybe she wanted to explain how she felt, but couldn't. So she walked away before any more damage was caused. 'Dedicate your pain to him' - in my opinion, some of the most intense performances of her entire career were gjven during "The Dance". "Silver Springs": Stevie's all but screaming at Lindsey.

Just my interpretation of a couple of lines, I could sit and pick apart the whole song, there's so much to say about it.