Beauty And The Beast

The Chain · #1 11-18-2003, 06:14 PM

Did Stevie base this on a story, or the fairy tale? If so, which version, or re-telling, and who is it by? I really enjoyed Rappaccini's Daughter, and I thought, hey Stevie's got a good taste in stories. If you could also, reply with more stories that Stevie's read to get inspiration for songs, that would be great

darklinensuit · #2 11-18-2003, 06:20 PM

If I remember, it was the Jean Cocteau film.

- Jake

The Chain · #3 11-18-2003, 06:42 PM

Would this by chance be it, Jake?

Beauty And The Beast

darklinensuit · #4 11-19-2003, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Chain
Would this by chance be it, Jake?

Beauty And The Beast

Sure seems to be, though I doubt Stevie had the advantage of DVD commentary when she wrote the song.

And we in all our magic...were far ahead of her...

- Jake

dissention · #5 11-19-2003, 10:48 AM

It was based on Cocteau's version. It is such a remarkable film, I recommend it!!

The link that was posted is for a DVD version that I don't have. The one I have has a different cover and other extras and ran me about sixty bucks.

Livia · #6 11-19-2003, 11:08 AM

Quote:

If you could also, reply with more stories that Stevie's read to get inspiration for songs, that would be great

Stevie's a big Oscar Wilde fan, and she loves trashy dime-store novels - Rhiannon came from a character in a book called "Triad." It wasn't until later that Stevie knew about the Welsh witch Rhiannon, etc.

In the Timespace liner notes, Stevie dedicated "Beauty and the Beast" to Katherine and Vincent- the characters from the TV show, which was a modern version of the same story.

However, the song is also about Stevie's affair w/ Mick.

SpyNote · #7 11-20-2003, 02:44 PM

I love Stevie's dramatic "epic" pieces, this one being one of my all-time faves. It's always exciting when she references characters from movies and novels, those are the songs that always seem to stump the critics and prompt them to write stupid things about her

I posted a cool piano demo of Beauty on my site. Check it out when you have a chance. If anyone can pinpoint when this demo was recorded, let me know.

Beauty and the Beast piano demo

Daniel
stevie-nicks.info

dissention · #8 11-20-2003, 08:47 PM

That demo sounds like a stripped down outtake from the Wild Heart sessions. I would say it was recorded during that era.

ricohv · #9 11-21-2003, 02:41 AM

Beauty and the Beast was a fary tale before the movies, etc. but she has said she was taken by the movie-which definately has a strange-beautiful-magical-odd-Stevie quality to it!
I have never heard that demo before and I must say I like it WAY better than the Tusk blues version demo or whatever it was called. Uggggh. Was that a case of 'the right producer knew what to do with her song' or did she dream up the slower, more dramtic orchestrated thing herself? I've never heard too much about the history/mutations of this song.
Oh yeah, and speaking of Ugggggggh, they sure could've done without those cheesy shots of Mick in the Red Rocks video Beauty and the Beast. Panning to shots of the Beast from the Cocteau film wouldn't have seemed as cheesy as that! JMO!
Ricoh

gldstwmn · #10 11-22-2003, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SpyNote
I love Stevie's dramatic "epic" pieces, this one being one of my all-time faves. It's always exciting when she references characters from movies and novels, those are the songs that always seem to stump the critics and prompt them to write stupid things about her

I posted a cool piano demo of Beauty on my site. Check it out when you have a chance. If anyone can pinpoint when this demo was recorded, let me know.

Beauty and the Beast piano demo

Daniel
stevie-nicks.info

Her voice sounds very Wild Heart Era. Could this actually be a master take that was the precursor to them deciding to put real strings on it? Thank you for this, it's quite beautiful.

FineSkylark · #11 11-26-2003, 12:12 AM

She did say this song was about Mick... I know there's a certain website that has all the meanings to Stevie's songs, and they focus heavily on the song being about Mick. I forgot the site, but it is great. Does anyone know what I'm referring to?

diamondsnake · #12 11-26-2003, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by FineSkylark
She did say this song was about Mick... I know there's a certain website that has all the meanings to Stevie's songs, and they focus heavily on the song being about Mick. I forgot the site, but it is great. Does anyone know what I'm referring to?

I think you are talking about www.inherownwords.com which has many different quotes on the meanings of several of her songs. I love this site, check it out!

FineSkylark · #13 11-26-2003, 01:04 AM

Yes that's it! Yes it is awesome!