I adore this song. I always have. I remember it clearly when I was little & it was first released & I thought it was "one wing dove"
. I love everything about it - the pulsing guitar, the percussion, the power vocal of the century. I love it so much I want to marry it. It may be my #1 favorite Stevie solo song, if I was forced to pick one.
The music is phenomenal, it's hard & heavy. It's not a "pretty" song, it just rocks. That guitar riff is now classic. Live is even better, I have never, EVER heard a version that disappointed me. Well, she has forgotten a verse more than once, so I don't like when that happens, but other than that, none. Some are better than others, but they're never boring. I do prefer one long growl (ala recent performances) as opposed to the chattering nonsense yell (ala Red Rocks.) Storytellers version is particularly great. This tune live is just electric. I wouldn't mind a shortened drum/guitar intro, but I figure it gives her time to change shawls & catch her breath.
The lyrics - where do I begin? They are sad & painful & desperate & beautiful. One minute they make me hopeful, the next minute my heart aches. I wouldn't change a single word, phrase, verse - nothing. It is perfect.
"And the days go by, like a strand in the wind, in the web that is my own, I begin again"
"the music there was hauntingly familiar"
"so with the slow graceful flow of age"
"so I went searching for an answer
up the stairs & down the hall
not to find an answer, just to hear the call
of a nightbird,
saying come away
COME NOW"
^
My.God. The pain, fear, mourning & hope (all at once) in that verse & the way she's singing it just blow me away.