Goodbye Baby...

[ERigby818]

Here's what I think.....
Goodbye Baby/The Tower is about the abortion but it's morphed into the story of Rhiannon, which involves her being taken to a Tower and having a child taken from her. It's one of the Rhiannon songs that was written about 1976 (can someone who knows more about this elaborate?). She put herself in Rhiannon's position and brilliantly told both stories at the same time, and to the unknowing ear, it's about a lover. Now, the only abortion she has ever admitted to is the Don Henley thing. I think she seemed pretty confident it was his, and she would know. This would fit the timeline since they dated in 1976.

I also think Smile At You is about Don Henley. He didn't like women who were stronger. He liked wimpy groupie types. This pissed Stevie off. The original lyrics to the song are filled with regret (my first mistake was to Smile at You). She has gotten angrier than hell at Lindsey, but I don't think she ever for a second felt regret about being involved with him. She may not have had the career if it weren't for him. While I am not certain the song is about Don, I am certain it is NOT about Lindsey.

Sara is about the Don issue and Mick..The "And he was just like a great dark wing..." verse is about Mick. I think she turned to Mick after that whole difficult time (during the Rumours tour) and he comforted her in that stormy time in her life. But if you listen to the Cleaning Lady version, where you hear the last verse clearly-- "There's a heartbeat and it never really died..." that could be about the abortion, even though she probably wasn't pregnant long enough to notice a heartbeat.

As for EFO I'm beginning to think it may be about Lindsey but I don't have any theories. But I have reason to doubt it was about Don. I don't think she was trying to hide her affair with Don from anyone except Lindsey, because she said she wanted to not piss him off. But I don't think the Don affair was that sneaky...and she certainly did not have him "most of the time." I think EFO is either about Lindsey or someone else, probably someone married, and definitely not Mick.

All of this is JMO.
-Sonia

[GardenStateGirlie]

Originally posted by tamaraluvsFM
Ok in regards to the S/L soap opera, I have to add my two cents in. I SWEAR in the song, which absolutely tears my heart out, Say Goodbye, in my headphones I hear him saying "I can never say goodbye to you!
Its at 3:07 and the lyrics in the book of course say, "and now I say goodbye to you"...... but I KNOW what I hear. I listened to it over and over and you can really hear it good with headphones on.
So tell me..please...does anyone else hear this?
In my lovely fantasy world, I think he adds this in last minute on the song. We all know what it means

What do you think???

Tamara

I think we spoke about this before in another thread on the Rumours forum. You're not crazy because that would make me crazy too. He sniffles and then says "I could never say goodbye to you..."

As far as Goodbye Baby goes, I'm with Sonia on this one. I think she morphed her own story into the story of Rhiannon. As far as who the father was, who knows? If she's convinced it's Don's, then she must have reason to believe that. However, I think, as a few of us do, that she was still on again/off again with Lindsey at that time.

EFO---no doubt in my mind it's about Lindsey. This was a song written more recently, correct? To me, it's about 97'....The Dance tour...as is Destiny Rules. She's with him again, but they can't be together...Destiny won't allow it. How many weeks did The Dance tour last???? I have a theory that "foreign country" either means their European talk show performances OR that the tour was like it's own "foreign country." They hadn't visited that place in a very long time....it was foreign to all of them.

With EFO, I think perhaps they had an affair together (did anyone else wonder why Lindsey kept popping up in various venues on Stevie's tour in 98'???? Not long before his now wife had Will???). I think THAT is the reason why it's still so painful for Stevie to hear Lindsey sing songs like Say Goodbye to her. Maybe she thought there was a chance for them but then that damn thing called Destiny got in the way again.

Just a thought!

[sulamith]

Hey Marissa, DR was written in Phoenix in late 2001, early 2002, as part of the "Phoenix four".

You know the songs Stevie talked about writing when she listened to what the guys had done with her older material, and she said she wanted 30 days to write someting more timely and recent?

That makes DR even more profound for now, because it is more about how things are between them now, following the rules!

As far as Don being the father, I just beought it up because Don revealed Stevie had an abortion, and Stevie said he sent her flowers and "a million apologies", but she never once said it was Don's baby. She said she had an abortion, and he said he thought he was the father. Now granted he probably is, I'm just saying that we don't know all the facts.

What's Stevie gonna do following Dan saying "Stevie Nicks had an abortion in 1976 and I think it was my baby"?
If there was a possibility it might have been Lindsey's or she wasn't sure, she sure isn't going to say anymore than has already been revealed. If it was left up to her we wouldn't even know what we do.

I just think there might be alot more to the story we will never know, and really shouldn't know.

But, being typical rabid fans, we love to talk about it, don't we?

-Sharon

[Wldhrt315]

Tamara, you are NOT wrong or going crazy. That is for sure what he says at that time mark. I believe it 110%

[gypsysara]

Marissa ~ GardenState ~ ERigby ~ thanks for your input. "Rabid fans" ~ LOL maybe so to some degree. Ive enjoyed reading all your interpretations.

I agree, no matter who the baby's father was or was not, we wont know the whole story (unless Stevie comes out and says something). And regardless of who the father was, she must have been heartbroken regardless. She likely still is. Something like that stays with you forever in some regards.

There were 3 versions of Rhiannon. Let me get the words for you all in the following posts.

[gypsysara]

Stay Away

The birds of Rhiannon sing away the pain...
Take away the darkness...
And sing you golden rainbows...
Just this minute the three birds are flying
In perfect formation...
The emerald, the gold and the snow white...
Because they have lived forever...

Down the forest pathway came the birds...
Singing their songs again...
He who wrote the sunshine...
And the skies full of gold...
The music filled the air and everything was fine...
Whatever happens to each one of us...
Will a wish be an answer...
You are and everything is fine...

If you listen carefully...
You just might hear the song of Rhiannon...
The birds are singing for us...
I can just hear them now...

========

Maker of Birds
The Three Birds of Rhiannon

A bird that is not mine...
Three birds that belong to her...
One emerald-green... one snow white...
One golden, flashing like a sunbeam through the night.
When at first he saw her...
It seemed she had no name

She sat alone, and it seemed to him...
That the light and her face were the same...
Her hair shone...
Streams of blond and gold

Her gown was no more than the water could cover...
This time would not come again
And the white mares dance...
And the Lady asked...

Take my wisdom with you... I shall ride...
And the birds are still singing...
And the song is now sweeping...
Like a silver... A silver shimmering flood..."


========

Rhiannon

Rhiannon rings like a bell thru the night...
And wouldn't you love to love her...
She rules her life like a bird in flight...
Who will be her lover...

All your life you've never seen...
A woman taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven...
Will you ever win...

She is like a cat in the dark
And then she is the darkness
She rules her life like a fine skylark...
And when the sky is starless...

Once in a million years a lady like her rises...
Take me like the wind, child...
Take me with the sky...
Dreams unwind...
Love's a state of mind...

Will you take me with you to the sky...
Rhiannon...."