First of all I would like to say that this song is one of my favorite Stevie solo songs.
Every time I hear it I just think of Stevie in her big beautiful castle with the man of her dreams(prince charming). She is dressed in her usual attire(chiffon,velvet and lace; draped precariously from her smooth ivory skin smelling of heavenly scents....I'm getting carried away here)LOL. Anyway, the image of a princess..you know! The long
dark corridors are lit by only torches hanging from the walls. Fireplaces are lit in every room of her palatial estate. And there Stevie is with everything she needs in her life. The love of her lifetime surrounded by all the atmosphere and beauty anyone could ever want or need. Shangri-La indeed. Then something seems to go wrong. The fire doesn't burn as bright and things dont seem just right. What the princess has longed for all her life is slipping away from her and there is nothing she can really do to stop it! She is left
ALONE behind what now is only stone and emptiness; cold dark corridors where once eternal love was felt.
These are just some of the images I see and emotions I feel when I hear this song.
What I think it means basically is that when you fall in love and really fall in love with someone, there is nothing else in the world that takes precedence over that love. It's as if you were in a castle all alone with your lover and no one else is around and it doesnt matter at all. Then when that person falls out of love with you(watching her castles fall down) it is of course a real strain on you. And I think in this particular instance Stevie knows, that this man knows that it will not work out("Watched from the corner of his eyes...Seemingly waiting for the time...When the castle walls...would all fall down"). Stevie has talked about this before and probably one of the main reasons she is not with someone today. Her world(castle) is just too much for any man to handle and deal with so it just is evident that this "fairy tale" relationship will not work out. As much as this happens though these relationships are real special and everlasting to Stevie and these loves never really die but are with her forever.
Beautiful song
Joe
[Edited 4 times, lastly by jwd on August 31, 2000]