Thoughts on Running Through the Garden
 

I'm sure this has been discussed before but what are your thoughts on this song on Say You Will? I much preferred the demo and wish it had been recorded in a more similar way to that. I don't like Lindsey on it.

It would have made a good solo single in my opinion.

I do like both the demo and studio versions, even though it's not the best quality (the version I have anyways, I don't know if there are different versions floating around or not) there's something I like about the demo version a bit more. Either way it is one of my favorite FM songs. :D

i love the song in every form...but i think it shoulda coulda woulda been better if she saved it for a solo album.

I love the demo, and would give up a lot to have it in HQ, I think it's really amazing. I love the vocals, the overdubbing, it's just amazing. Really baffled why it wasn't on RAL.

That said, I also love the SYW version. She sounded more alive on that song than she did for years. and that guitar solo of Lindsey's is incredible.

All in all, I think it's one of Stevie's better songs, period. I don't quite understand why it seems to be such a under-rated song :laugh:

This is a great song, and I agree that Stevie should have saved it for a solo release.
Actually, I think the RAL outtake (the widely circulated and muffled sounding version) strikes me as being a complete and mixed version to my ears, just a bad copy, and would have sounded fantastic on Rock A Little as is. Her vocal is fierce - all that wailing & the double harmony/vocal by Stevie is very effective. I'm thinking this must have been one of the original songs intended for the initial RAL/Mirror Mirror release, but was shelved around the time Jimmy left the project outright and Stevie resumed recording more music with other writers and producers.

RAL probably has the most recorded outtakes of any of Stevie's solo releases and is easily the most fascinating Stevie era of all for me. These sessions would be a treasure trove of material waiting to surface.
Rock A Little is a very solid record as is, I think it gets a bad rap mostly because of the so called dated "80's sound" (which incidentally is all the rage now) and Stevie's ultra-whiskey rasp vocals - Which I L O V E D! IMO Stevie best records so far are Bella Donna, Trouble In Shangri-La, Rock A Little & The Wild Heart in that order. OSOTM & Street Angel each have some golden moments.:angel:

I love Running Through the Garden on SYW and it would have made a great single, I think. Full-on vocals, full of hooks and clever production tricks that make it a joy to listen to every time.

I don't like the SYW version as much as the demo but I still wish they had performed this live more often! I guess Stevie had some issue with it?

I don't like it at all. One of the worst songs on SYW in my opinion. The demo version is better but I still don't even like that. The melody just doesn't appeal to me and there's something about Stevie and her garden songs that rub me the wrong way :shrug:.

No pun intended, right? ;)

I don't think the song is terrible. It's just not one I remember. It never stuck out to me and it went on the wrong album. However, I really like the Gate and Garden because of the harmonies and the nuances.

Actually, intended ;). Glad you caught that, I was hoping you would. :xoxo:

Hehehe...I just have a dirty mind. That's all.

I happen to actually LOVE "Running Thru The Garden" and think it's the best song on SYW. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. ;)

I agree with Christopher that the Rock A Little version sounds very complete. Lots of different instruments, some great Stevie overdubs... I just wish we had better sound quality.

I love Stevie's voice on the Say You Will version, but do not like LB's vocals on it at all. But I can live with this as the only perfect sound quality "Running Through The Garden" we have.

I do have some Say You Will outtakes of "Running Through The Garden", which mostly consist of different mixes of the album version, some of which put an even weirder synth on Stevie's voice. It's almost like techno feedback on one of them. Most of the so-called "outtakes" from Say You Will are very lame, just slightly different mixes (although it's kinda cool to have the Stevie-only version of "Miranda").

Good song, but the demo...eh.

It's truthfully the only song from SYW I still listen to, and I think it's pretty great. LB is totally fine on it.