Question on Fireflies

elie · #1 03-23-2006, 04:52 AM

Hi all!

As I have already written about a hundred times on this forum

I absolutely love Fireflies. It is one of my favorite FM songs and I love Stevie's voice when she sings it.
My question is: to my recollection, this song can be found only on Live 1980, right?

Does anyone know why? I know the story behind the lyrics, but I don't know when it was written and why it was never included in any studio album.
Thanx!!

**mylittledemon** · #2 03-23-2006, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elie

Hi all!

As I have already written about a hundred times on this forum

I absolutely love Fireflies. It is one of my favorite FM songs and I love Stevie's voice when she sings it.
My question is: to my recollection, this song can be found only on Live 1980, right?

Does anyone know why? I know the story behind the lyrics, but I don't know when it was written and why it was never included in any studio album.
Thanx!!

It's only appearance is on the LIVE album, yes. I think maybe it was a Tusk outtake or something that just didn't make the cut. It is a pretty good song, I can only imagine what they might've done with it in the studio.

elie · #3 03-23-2006, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

It's only appearance is on the LIVE album, yes. I think maybe it was a Tusk outtake or something that just didn't make the cut. It is a pretty good song, I can only imagine what they might've done with it in the studio.

Thank you, mylittledemon. Actually, I like this particular version very much, and it's perhaps my favorite Stevie vocals. I know it sounds a little wierd, I don't know if anyone else is so crazy about it.
Does it at least appear on any other live performance, official or not?

**mylittledemon** · #4 03-23-2006, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elie

Thank you, mylittledemon. Actually, I like this particular version very much, and it's perhaps my favorite Stevie vocals. I know it sounds a little wierd, I don't know if anyone else is so crazy about it.
Does it at least appear on any other live performance, official or not?

I've got a lot of bootlegs and such and I don't think I've ever seen another "version" of Fireflies. I think there may have been a demo of it on MainStream's "Tusk Take II" but I'm not positive. It is a great song, and the live version probably would remain the "staple" even if there was another version out there.

Richard B · #5 03-23-2006, 10:57 AM

There is a vinyl 12" of a Fireflies remix...but even that's taken from the original Live cut, with slight variation.

PenguinHead · #6 03-23-2006, 11:30 AM

"Fireflies," like "The Farmer's Daughter" and "One More Night," to my knowledge, was prepared as new material for the "Live" album. None of those songs have ever been performed live -- the exception being "Farmer's Daugher," which was a big surprise when it was included in "The Dance" concert set -seventeen years later.

I, too, love the song. It's an overlooked classic. It's not exactly "live" though. Like many other songs on that album, there was a lot of post-production. Most likely, the vocal "ooooohs" were recorded in the studio.

There are several mixes of the song. The single version is a different mix with an edited faded ending -- much different from the album version.

David · #7 03-23-2006, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

"Fireflies," like "The Farmer's Daughter" and "One More Night," to my knowledge, was prepared as new material for the "Live" album. None of those songs have ever been performed live -- the exception being "Farmer's Daugher," which was a big surprise when it was included in "The Dance" concert set -seventeen years later.

But the really interesting, really confusing thing about Fireflies is just why it & One More Night were played at what was apparently a dress rehearsal for a later leg of the Tusk Tour. Maybe there was some filming done for promotional material or even a concert film or documentary. A doc was ultimately released but as we all know, had no material from the Santa Monica Civic rehearsals.

The other curious thing about Fireflies is that people have found a bunch of different takes of it, but we don't know whether those were different performances of it at Santa Monica Civic or not. In one of those, there is both an organ & an acoustic piano, so it's probably something that was not done (at least entirely) at the Santa Monica Civic. I believe the Santa Monica Civic thing was in the middle of 1980--possibly July, right before the August leg. Stevie's voice does things on Fireflies that remind one of things her voice did on the August shows.

So we really don't have a clear picture of just what the heck these songs are or why they were done or exactly when or even what they were pulled from.

Sahara · #8 03-23-2006, 01:47 PM

I love Fireflies, it's one of my very favourites from the Tusk era.

The vocals, the sound of the song and the whole thing generally reminds me of Angel.

GypsySongbird · #9 03-23-2006, 02:29 PM

i love fireflies! its one of my all time favourites! and i especially love the lindsey/stevie harmonies, theyre beautiful!

JazmenFlowers · #10 03-23-2006, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GypsySongbird

i love fireflies! its one of my all time favourites! and i especially love the lindsey/stevie harmonies, theyre beautiful!

yep. me too.

jannieC · #11 03-23-2006, 06:58 PM

I've never heard this. Anyone want to share?

JazmenFlowers · #12 03-23-2006, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jannieC

I've never heard this. Anyone want to share?

do you have the Live CD? well, nevermind...that was a stupid question I guess.

DavidMn · #13 03-23-2006, 07:17 PM

Not a big One More Night fan here.

foxyluva · #14 03-23-2006, 07:58 PM

I have this on LP and my record player is in need of repair - so I have not listened to Fireflies in a long time - I can barely remember anything about it - although I do remember I liked "One More Night"

Sorcerer386 · #15 03-23-2006, 11:46 PM

I used to have a demo/outtake/whatever it was of Fireflies with the actual ending listed at Nicksfix:

Like a sailing ship, not one of us runs
Everyone stays, and the fire never fades

I don't know if this is the same one everyone else is talking about. It's on my old computer...I wish it still worked.