Stevie's Letter To The Troops...

[sulamith]

As far as Stevie using te term "peacekeeper" in her letter, I think you are way off target for thinking Stevie stole that from Lindsey, or that she is somehow giving an interp on the song, blinker12.

Stevie has used that word in her own lyrics before as well.

Maybe Lindsey "stole" it from her, if anything. She isn't disrespecting him. I'm not trying to start a pissing match, but stop being accusitory!

-Sharon

[FiercestCalmSea]

I thought what Natalie Maines said was right on target. Good for her...

The whole thing with Natalie is that,yes,she should exercise her right to free speech,but it would also not kill her to THINK before she speaks.The woman has no tact,obviously.The most important thing about having an opinion is that you want it to come across correctly,and seeing as she apologized,that is obviously not how she wanted it to sound.She has a great voice,so maybe she should just stick to singing,cause i think she shoots her mouth off too much..she made some remark about Toby Keith last year and some of his lyrics about kicking the terrorists @ss...like she is some great songwriter...HA!...DC doesn't write half their hits...(Landslide is proof of that)..so like Toby said,she should shut her blowhole

p.s. I AM a DC fan...i am not one of those idiots who stops listening to their music cause of what they say...i just wish the girl would think before she speaks a little more often...

[sulamith]

LOL! You got me so worked up I can't spell!

accusatory, I meant to say!

But I still mean it. Let's not have this dissolve into yet another S vs. L argument.

-Sharon

[bootylicous]

I don't understand what's so horrible about saying that you're ashamed of you're political leaders when you are. I think it's a very patriotic sentiment because it shows that she's emotionally connected to what happens to her country, that she really cares. I didn't get the impression that Natalie had planned ahead of time to say what she said (judging by her quick apology), it feels to me that, perhaps as a mother, she has a real concern about what's happening, and I admire that.

[SmthngOfADreamr]

Originally posted by bootylicous
I don't understand what's so horrible about saying that you're ashamed of you're political leaders when you are. I think it's a very patriotic sentiment because it shows that she's emotionally connected to what happens to her country, that she really cares. I didn't get the impression that Natalie had planned ahead of time to say what she said (judging by her quick apology), it feels to me that, perhaps as a mother, she has a real concern about what's happening, and I admire that.

There's nothing wrong with doing that if you're going to express your opinion in an infromed way at an appropriate time in front of an approriate audience. Something that a lot of people forget is that freedom of speach does not mean you have the freedom to say whatever idiotic thing that pops into your head at any given time WITHOUT BEING JUDGED FOR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING. Under the first ammendment, people must still be held accountable for what they say. Otherwise you'd never be able to sue for slander or lible, etc... Basically, what Natalie said was just really stupid. And I really don't care about it half as much as you'd think I would from my responses to this thread. And likewise, it's even more stupid that people get so upset about her dumb comment so as to throw away DC cds and stop listening to their music (but that's a completely different topic).

[FiercestCalmSea]

I think it's a very patriotic sentiment

Patriotic is supporting our troops,not shooting your mouth off about the man who sent them to war.I am sorry..I am not trying to start an argument about this..I am AGAINST this war as much as anyone..it makes me sick..but for all the protesting...it has already started..so i think the only right thing to do at this point is show a united front for our soldiers..that is the least we can do for them..after all,if it wasn't for people like them,we'd never have the privelige of shooting our mouths off...

[Mad4stevie]

Originally posted by FiercestCalmSea
The whole thing with Natalie is that,yes,she should exercise her right to free speech,but it would also not kill her to THINK before she speaks.The woman has no tact,obviously.The most important thing about having an opinion is that you want it to come across correctly,and seeing as she apologized,that is obviously not how she wanted it to sound.

I completely agree. People can have all the opinions they want, but if the act like a jerk in expressing them, it just turns people off (me included). We do have freedom of speech, but that does not mean that people should not be held accountable for what they say. There are legal provisions that do protect people from libel and slander and there are criminal repercusions for people yelling out certain things that would incite a riot ("Fire" in a crowded movie theatre for example). People can have all the opinions that they want, but be responsible with how you express them.

[blinker12]

Sulamith, my goal wasn't to start another Stevie v. Lindsey fight. I do think that given the timing of the letter _ right as "Peacekeeper" is released as a single _ that she is definitely referring to that song, and not one of her own (actually, I believe the exact phrase she used was "keeper of the peace," in "Fall From Grace," which is a bit different).

I don't think Stevie is trying to disrespect Lindsey as a person. But I do think she's ignoring his expressed wish for the song's meaning to remain ambiguous.

I just don't want people to start thinking, "oh, the song must be about the troops, because Stevie said so." I agree with Lindsey that the song is more effective when its meaning is left open-ended.

[sulamith]

Fine, fine, blinker12 I can see your point about Lindsey not wanting to be too strongly aligned with either side.

But OTOH, I do think Stevie wants this single to be successful, and it may just be her way of calling attention to it.

Stevie is just doing what she has always done as far her own feelings about soldiers and conflicts. She's just sending positve vibes and really, I do think the term "peacekeeper" is just part of her own verbage. She did give an interview where she specifically called herself "the little peacekeeper", and that was long before anyone ever even knew a song with that title even existed.

She's just being Stevie.

-Sharon

[Jessica Leigh]

Originally posted by sulamith
, I do think the term "peacekeeper" is just part of her own verbage. She did give an interview where she specifically called herself "the little peacekeeper", and that was long before anyone ever even knew a song with that title even existed.

She's just being Stevie.

-Sharon

i was just going to post this... i too have heard that interview and "the little peacekeeper" comment came into my mind also.... i am sure that i have heard it several more times from her... cause when i first heard about a lindsey song called peacekeeper i went "oh? did stevie inspire something from him?" you are right sulamith- i too think it's just part of her own verbage and she's not appropriating anything from lindsey.

[sulamith]

Thanks, Jessica!
I was starting to think I was the only one who felt that way, and I knew I wasn't imagining it!

I also wondered, like you, just where Linds got the inspiration from in the first place.

-Sharon

[blinker12]

I had forgotten about the interview where she called herself "the peacekeeper."
But I still think she was probably referring to Lindsey's song in her letter. And even if she weren't, people reading the letter will probably *think* so. After all, not everyone is as well-read as we are when it comes to Stevie interviews. More people know about the new single.
I'm just saying she should have been more careful about using that word in that context _ she should have thought about how it would be applied to Lindsey's song (even if she didn't specifically mean it that way).
And, as I said earlier, I agree that it would help FM sell records and get airplay if the song *were* used as a pro-troops anthem. But according to interviews we've heard so far, that wasn't Lindsey's intent. As an aside: I'll admit, I'd be personally disappointed to see Fleetwood Mac's music used as propaganda. (Not that my opinion matters to them, I'm just disclosing! ) Remember "Don't Stop" being used for Clinton's campaign? I never liked the song much, but to see it used to sell a political candidate (even one I voted for) really killed it for me once and for all.
Who knows; this is all conjecture. I'll admit, radio programmers don't seem to be taking Stevie's statement and running with it _ at least not yet _ so maybe I'm overreacting. What does everyone else think?

[PenguinHead]

I wish all of you would just chill out and drop the political chatter. Fleetwood Mac has been many things through the years -- but one thing it has never been is political.

Blinker12, you've contridicted your earlier statement by then saying it's all conjecture. And you're right!

I highly doubt that Stevie is so calculated as to reference "Peacekeeper" in order to increase sales. How ridiculous! And the idea that it even would accomplish that is over-estimated.

Stevie often references songs-- hers and Fleetwood Mac -- all the time. For her to use the word "peacekeeper" or the title of the song doesn't imply anything. She took it out of the context of the song!!! She didn't appropriate it for some political purpose.

Over sensitivity and political correctness has gone haywire in this country. Be offended if you must. Read into things what you will. But remember, in your words, it's all conjecture.

I wish no one on this board ever broached the subject of war. I listen to music and come here to get away from all that! eeh

[Tusk57]

My sentiments exactly, PenguinHead. I couldn't have said it better myself!!!
Bill

[Les]

Originally posted by blinker12
But I still think she was probably referring to Lindsey's song in her letter. And even if she weren't, people reading the letter will probably *think* so. After all, not everyone is as well-read as we are when it comes to Stevie interviews.

You know what, blinker12, that's exactly what is happening with the station here in San Diego that is playing the song the most. I flipped to the station yesterday afternoon to hear about the last minute of the song playing. Just as it ended, the DJ came on and said, "There's the new song by Fleetwood Mac that, in Stevie Nicks' words, goes out to the troops. If you want to see the beautiful letter she wrote about it, come to our website and see the link to her letter..."

It must be said that San Diego is a conservative military town though, so if anyplace would be especially likely to adopt this interpretation, it would be here.