Hard Advice demo
 

Hello everyone!

I'm just posting because I've been listening to 24 karat gold a lot lately and have been scouring YouTube to listen to the original demos. One I can't find is Hard Advice. Maybe it's a silly question but is there a demo? I'd love to hear it. It almost seems like a continuation of "that made me stronger". Sorry if this question was already asked and thanks in advance for your response!

Well if there is a demo for it, it's one of the few Stevie managed to keep from getting stolen.

The demo has never been circulated.

funny, Hard Advice has been stuck in my head for days now...and it's not even one of favs on 24K Gold but that may be changing. Such a pretty melody. The lyrics are kinda clunky in spots but the message of the song really comes through.

Through her own career-long, persistent instance that she is a wordsmith, storyteller, and poet first and foremost, it's easy to overlook that many of her most eye-rolling lyrics are sung to quite pretty and catchy melodies.

Hard Advice, to me, is a perfect example. I'd much rather hum Hard Advice than sing it.

Lol yeah, anyone who can just throw in "before our infamous pasts" and still make a pretty song is kinda incredible. It always amuses me singing along how bizarre that wording is.

Can't stand the "don't buy that doll" part either. I'm not sure there's really any better way to describe a cardboard cutout but meh, sounds so weird in the song.

What's also weird given the mentions of the cardboard cut out/ lifesize paper doll and whatnot, the song is almost too specific and personal, you know? But yet the general feeling is so relatable. Heck, I wish it had been out in my teens because i was always writing ridiculous love poems and songs so I LOVE the "Go and write some real songs" line. Brings back my very first brokenheart and that adolescent intensity of everything. But I don't think most of can relate to the paper doll or "another famous friend told me".

The song is ridiculously catchy though. I will have it stuck in my head for days now just discussing it! I love the part when the guitar picks up and all, such a gorgeous melody. I've played the song for people and zoomed ahead even to that part just so I can gush over it.

I don't believe Stevie has any awareness of how egotistical it sounds to reference a "famous friend." It's just a matter of fact to her. But I like her "paper doll"reference because of the off-setting imagery.

On occasion I've see those life-size card-board cut outs in stores. They are not paper dolls as she, in her alternative Stevie world, refers to them. Typically it's promotional material/signage not available for purchase.

Maybe because of who she is, she's been able to buy one or more of these in the past (or figures that she could). On the other hand, it is difficult to imagine her walking into a record store these days, though we do know she says she still loves to shop.

it's not the first time she name dropped "famous friend". She also did it in Two Kinds of Love..."well I spoke to my famous friend last night...my third day up, well, his second nighter..."

this, along with "my friends as well as me" … urgh…..

Not sure it's as bad as "she even felt bad/about even dying" …..that one is just….wtf [yes, I know that's a different song. But it's still one of the most grating lyrics on the album]

By no means are those necessary expensive. Radio stations and such give them away. Or at least they used to. When I was still in grade school we had to do a career project (my gosh they started us young!) and they hooked us up with an on the job visit. Well technically my best friend and I wanted to be famous singers, lol, but we ended up visiting the local country music channel and we were given so much promotional stuff! Cds and random things plus a life size cardboard cut out of an earlier Faith Hill. So yeah, I once had one (in reference to the person who explained they're not really like paper dolls, exactly). I haven't seen any except for actually movie promos at theaters or at one point, though it's been at least 5-6 years the chain entertainment shop FYE was selling some movie characters at ridiculous prices. But I think they originally were promo things that you could probably get for free. As a kid I used to just ask for the promo posters in record shops and they generally would just give them to whoever asked or one shop used to sell older ones or copies for like 25 cents/ 5 for $1. And I'm guessing if you're Stevie Nicks you can probably get anything you ask for especially in a record shop. Lol.

Oh my gosh, YES! That line is terrible. Haha. Reminds me of a high school English teacher I had who pretty much killed creative writing and poetry for me for awhile because everything to her was a cliche or worded wrong. I'm positive nothing I ever wrote, even as an angsty melodramatic teen was ever worded that bad! Reminds me too of that scene from, is it the video for the making of Say You Will?, where Lindsey keeps pointing out how Stevie is changing from first to third person again and again and she gets so mad at him? I genuinely think Stevie writes some truly incredible songs and no one that I know of can even compare to her style but some basic editing to cut lines like the ones we mentioned or keep the song in one tense, or first or third person consistently wouldn't be a bad thing.

Heck, in my angsty melodramatic teen years I journaled enough to rival Stevie and when I look back not only did I, of course, cover my journal in song lyrics but I was always borrowing whole phrases and lines from Stevie. Never heard anything wrong then but maybe it's better that teacher practically beat her strict views into me? ;)

Yes, exactly. ;)

She even felt guilty, about even dying.

I love that line.. To me, though grammatically incoherent, it emphasizes a point.

"She even felt guilty about dying" - Boring

"She even felt guilty.. about even dying" Less correct, less boring.

One time in high school(1970's) I quoted some Stevie stuff she said in an interview back then and the teacher said what I wrote made no sense.:lol: