New Song Explanations Directly from Stevie

macko814 · #1 04-30-2003, 07:37 PM

Interesting! From http://www.performingsongwriter.com/...b_ex/06901.cfm

More Song Explanations:
Edge of Seventeen
It was written right after John Lennon died. A week later, my uncle died and this was a very close uncle. Between John Lennon and my Uncle Bill, “Edge of Seventeen” came out of that. [sings] “Oh I went searchin’ for an answer / Up the stairs and down the hall / Not to find an answer just to hear the call of a nightbird singing.” And the nightbird is the bird of death, really. I can get up on stage and sing “Edge of Seventeen” and still feel just as traumatized today as I did then, when I first sang it at my piano. It’s just so heavy. I use that word “heavy” a lot, and I know that it’s an old hippie word, but it just really seems to be the right word. Some of the songs are so heavy. John Lennon being shot to death in front of his apartment for absolutely no reason, when I was a rock star also, so immediately that transfers to, ‘Is somebody going to shoot me? Is somebody going to shoot me because I didn’t write back to a fan?’ And that’s why I wrote the song.

Say You Will
Everybody’s experienced it - when you like somebody, it makes you a different person. It changes you and it changes you in a minute. But that song is not just about Lindsey. It’s about a movie I saw about Arturo Sandoval, the trumpet player. I loved this movie, and I just loved the way that through all the pain and separation, they managed to do music and stay happy and keep love alive, and dancing and rhythm and music, how healing it was. That was really my inspiration for that song. The chorus was written first, then I went back to write the verses. It was initially inspired by that movie. But then once you get part of the poem down, you can’t always write all of it about what inspired it initially. You have to go back. You have this great chorus that basically says, “If you dance with me, you won’t be mad at me anymore. We can be in a huge argument, but if we put on some music and start to dance, everything will be great.” Then I had to think about what to make the verses about. So I went back over all my relationships with people and think of different ways that I have felt when I wanted basically to burst into song and sing that chorus (laughs). Give me one more chance. That’s what came out of it. It’s funny because, we just did an interview the day before yesterday, and I don’t think any of the band knows that that was the reason I wrote the song.

Running Through The Garden
I wrote that song around 1985. It’s about the story “Rapaccini’s Daughter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. We didn’t realize it until it was completely recorded. I thought it was a Twilight Zone episode I’d seen on TV fifteen or twenty years ago. But it’s the story of this girl who’s raised in this beautiful Italian villa and her dad is this gardener and he raised all these poisonous plants and he like infused the poisons into her. It’s very hazy what I remember about the story. She became poisonous, so if anybody were to kiss her, they would die. And she could never leave, because she’s addicted to the poison. So everybody’s like, ‘Wow, that’s an incredible story.’ There’s a picture that Christine did, a drawing, and Chris is an incredible artist, probably twenty years ago, and she gave it to me, and it’s her, it’s the girl in the song. So I went back and forth about maybe calling it “Rapaccini’s Daughter,” but I thought I’d have to get publishing rights and all that, so I left it “Running Through The Garden.”

Tusky · #2 04-30-2003, 08:34 PM

Thank you for posting,v.interesting!
I thought "Say You Will" was about Chris rejoining The Mac?Guess I was wrong!

Miranda · #3 05-01-2003, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tusky
Thank you for posting,v.interesting!
I thought "Say You Will" was about Chris rejoining The Mac?Guess I was wrong!

You thought that because she's said it. There she goes again with the double talk on what her songs are supposed to be about. Actually, the stuff in the magazine about SYW is what I thought in the first place, until she started saying it was about Christine. Then I thought...she's blowing smoke as usual.

Forget about John Lennon and Edge of 17. That's the biggest load of bull. It may have something to do with her uncle dying but she just threw the John Lennon idea in there cuz the time seemed right. John Lennon died just before the album came out.

Now lets see...who was on the "Edge (age) of 17" when she first laid eyes on him? Uhhh, John Lennon? Nooooooo. Her Uncle? Don't think so.

Johnny Stew · #4 05-01-2003, 01:30 AM

The John Lennon connection in "Edge Of Seventeen" is not a new thing... Stevie first mentioned that about 12 years ago.

The title of the song, and the first verse, was inspired by a comment Tom Petty's ex-wife, Jane, made about meeting Tom at the "age of seventeen."
With Jane's thick Southern accent, Stevie thought she had said the "edge of seventeen," and was inspired to start writing a song based on that.

The second verse, about the "words of a poet, the voice of a choir, and a melody" is where the John Lennon connection comes in. Stevie admired Lennon and his talents, and aspired to the beauty she found in his music.

The third verse is where the connection to her Uncle's death comes into play (as well as a continuation of the Lennon reference). With the call of the nightbird (death), and her running "up the stairs and down the hall," questioning those age-old life and death questions... but of course not finding any answers.

As for "Say You Will," I think that's just another case of Stevie being inspired by several different things or people.
At the moment though, I can't find a quote directly from Stevie, regarding Christine being an inspiration to her for that song.
I was looking for it (and one about her and Mick's relationship) earlier, but all I could find were critics and reviewers saying that it was a homage to Christine.

We've been inundated with so many new articles lately, that's it nearly impossible to keep up! (Though I'm loving every minute of it!)

Miranda · #5 05-01-2003, 03:45 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Johnny Stew
The John Lennon connection in "Edge Of Seventeen" is not a new thing... Stevie first mentioned that about 12 years ago.

The title of the song, and the first verse, was inspired by a comment Tom Petty's ex-wife, Jane, made about meeting Tom at the "age of seventeen."
With Jane's thick Southern accent, Stevie thought she had said the "edge of seventeen," and was inspired to start writing a song based on that.

The second verse, about the "words of a poet, the voice of a choir, and a melody" is where the John Lennon connection comes in. Stevie admired Lennon and his talents, and aspired to the beauty she found in his music.

The third verse is where the connection to her Uncle's death comes into play (as well as a continuation of the Lennon reference). With the call of the nightbird (death), and her running "up the stairs and down the hall," questioning those age-old life and death questions... but of course not finding any answers.

As for "Say You Will," I think that's just another case of Stevie being inspired by several different things or people.
At the moment though, I can't find a quote directly from Stevie, regarding Christine being an inspiration to her for that song.
I was looking for it (and one about her and Mick's relationship) earlier, but all I could find were critics and reviewers saying that it was a homage to Christine.

We've been inundated with so many new articles lately, that's it nearly impossible to keep up! (Though I'm loving every minute of it!)

No it's not a new thing. She's been talking about a John Lennon thing, as you say, for a little over a decade. That song was written over 20 years ago! I also know about the Tom Petty connection, but at least that was mentioned in the liner notes of the album. (Tom's wife was.)

Lindsey said it in one of his latest interviews that Stevie starts talking about one person or relationship and then switches to another or someone else within the same song. It's hard to tell what she's talking about. Bet that bugs the hell out of him.

strandinthewind · #6 05-01-2003, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Johnny Stew
The John Lennon connection in "Edge Of Seventeen" is not a new thing... Stevie first mentioned that about 12 years ago.

As for "Say You Will," I think that's just another case of Stevie being inspired by several different things or people.
At the moment though, I can't find a quote directly from Stevie, regarding Christine being an inspiration to her for that song.
I was looking for it (and one about her and Mick's relationship) earlier, but all I could find were critics and reviewers saying that it was a homage to Christine.

Stevie also said something about how Jimmy Iovine was a great admirer of John Lennon and she had to leave him alone for a little while because he was greatly affected by his murder. I think she said this coupled with the process of losing her uncle at the same time was too much for her. So, she wrote it the the song. It makes sense to me, which I guess is kind of scary!!

My impression of the interviews (ageed there have been many) is she was saying SYW is an homage to the style of Chirs' songs (upbeat, fun, happy, pop a la the great Say You Love Me, You Make Loving Fun, etc.) and is not really about Christine per se.