worst stevie lyrics evahhhhhh!!!

[MoonSister75]

^^^ Thanks for posting these welcomechris - they're hilarious

Still, it just makes her more endearing......

[PenguinHead]

Stevie is not the most intelligent writer, but she is a very emotionally vested writer. Her songs are like children to her; children who belong in the special needs classes.

I've learned to gloss over the inexplicable change of tenses, awkward phrases, odd or pedestrian word choices, over reliance on iterations, incomprehensible and oblique references, etc. I still find enjoyment in her music, including her most questionable songs and lyrics, especially if I don't analyze them too much.

I think one of her issues is her ego. Because she has so much conviction in what she writes, she doesn't edit herself; everything is too precious. And while I believe she has an artistic intelligence, I can't expect her to be cohesive writer. Just listen to the disjointed way in which she speaks; it's the same way she writes.

Rock music gives writers an allowance to twist and mangle language/syntax to a certain extent. Stevie, without even realizing it, takes full liberty of that allowance.
There is no one like Stevie, and this is one of the many reasons why.

To counter this thread, perhaps we should start a thread on lyrics, verses and phrases that highlight her brightest lyrical moments.

[tabruns]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

Stevie is not the most intelligent writer, but she is a very emotionally vested writer. Her songs are like children to her; children who belong in the special needs classes.

I've learned to gloss over the inexplicable change of tenses, awkward phrases, odd or pedestrian word choices, over reliance on iterations, incomprehensible and oblique references, etc. I still find enjoyment in her music, including her most questionable songs and lyrics, especially if I don't analyze them too much.

I think one of her issues is her ego. Because she has so much conviction in what she writes, she doesn't edit herself; everything is too precious. And while I believe she has an artistic intelligence, I can't expect her to be cohesive writer. Just listen to the disjointed way in which she speaks; it's the same way she writes.

Rock music gives writers an allowance to twist and mangle language/syntax to a certain extent. Stevie, without even realizing it, takes full liberty of that allowance.
There is no one like Stevie, and this is one of the many reasons why.

To counter this thread, perhaps we should start a thread on lyrics, verses and phrases that highlight her brightest lyrical moments.

I agree with a lot of this. I think Nicks is something of an "Id" type writer....there's a lot of emotion coming out in her writing, and it can *seem* at first glance to be incomprehensible.

But let's take Lindsey's criticism of the verses in "Thrown Down". The first verse is third person, the second verse shifts to first person. It doesn't throw me off at all, because the effect (to me) is that Nicks basically steps closer to the listener and gets more personal in the second verse. In the first verse she's observing from a distance - "this happened, that happened", in the second verse she's confronting Lindsey directly. It would actually have detracted from the song to put all the verses in the same tense - Nicks' artistry comes through on it.

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by tabruns

I agree with a lot of this. I think Nicks is something of an "Id" type writer....there's a lot of emotion coming out in her writing, and it can *seem* at first glance to be incomprehensible.

But let's take Lindsey's criticism of the verses in "Thrown Down". The first verse is third person, the second verse shifts to first person. It doesn't throw me off at all, because the effect (to me) is that Nicks basically steps closer to the listener and gets more personal in the second verse. In the first verse she's observing from a distance - "this happened, that happened", in the second verse she's confronting Lindsey directly. It would actually have detracted from the song to put all the verses in the same tense - Nicks' artistry comes through on it.

Well it threw me off. Great production and I can't even listen to it because of the lyrics. She can't take any criticism from Lindsey no matter how truthful it is.

[tabruns]

One song that I don't get, again not saying it's bad just that I don't understand it, is "Two Kinds of Love".

I've never understood from the song exactly what the "two kinds of love" actually are.....unless the line "estranged from each other for their very survival" is a hint. She says "the two of us...widow and the dove" so I think it's another "conversation I had with Prince" song, but this entire section:

Ooh the two of us
Estranged sometimes for their very survival
Outraged at each other
Engaged to each other in their hearts
but they live apart

...makes me think it has to be about Lindsey. So basically, a song relaying a conversation she had with Prince that included talking about her relationship with Lindsey. But I'm still not following what the "Two Kinds of Love" are.

[sorcerer999]

"Touched By An Angel" has the cringe worthy..."Everything was the same, except that everything was different." I can understand where she's coming from, and I get what she's trying to say, but it just doesn't work, some how.

But she makes up for it by writing, "No one said a word, and that simply said it all" which is BRILLIANT!

[markolas]

You guys do realize that some of you are quoting people who haven't posted on The Ledge in 10 years, right?

I still miss dissention.

[teedeerocks]

Originally Posted by tabruns

One song that I don't get, again not saying it's bad just that I don't understand it, is "Two Kinds of Love".

I've never understood from the song exactly what the "two kinds of love" actually are.....unless the line "estranged from each other for their very survival" is a hint. She says "the two of us...widow and the dove" so I think it's another "conversation I had with Prince" song, but this entire section:

Ooh the two of us
Estranged sometimes for their very survival
Outraged at each other
Engaged to each other in their hearts
but they live apart

...makes me think it has to be about Lindsey. So basically, a song relaying a conversation she had with Prince that included talking about her relationship with Lindsey. But I'm still not following what the "Two Kinds of Love" are.

Stevie once said in an interview that Two Kinds of Love means the sexual vs. the soulful,compassionate love that people feel for each other.
"One for the way you walk" - the sexual /checking out the bod things like the swaying hips or a certain bounce a person might have.

"One for the way you love me" - like holding someone's hand while they're crying or gently sweeping the hair back from someone's face or wiping a single tear from they're face in times of distress.

My take on "widow and dove" is basically War and Peace.Widow: A black widow spider kills her "partner" immediately after mating with them - WAR.Stevie has said that she and Lindsey were very passionate but that was IT.They were ready to kill each other after that.

Dove: signifies peace,harmony,and soulful love - compassion, not passion =PEACE.

Any thoughts?

[teedeerocks]

"What's warmer than a sun drenched land?,your hand,your hand - YIKES!!!

All of the lyrics to "Cheaper Than Free" - double YIKES!

What's sappier than an oak tree,Cheaper than Free!

Having said that,I think Stevie and Dave sing it beautifully.

Still love ya babe.

[goldenground]

"They run from the one who hunts them, They drop to the forest floor...frozen" I hate the lyrical changes she made to this song. The obvious references to that horrible movie is clunky and takes away a little bit from what was a great song.

"Well the conversation rings inside my head, Well you know me better than I know myself, Can you write this for me? He says no you write your songs yourself"......Why is this the chorus? it's not an embarrassing line you can just ignore, it's repeated throughout the whole song lol

"So she stares at the stairs, ooh there are many things to stare at these days" LOL

[thedancingcow]

Originally Posted by goldenground

"They run from the one who hunts them, They drop to the forest floor...frozen" I hate the lyrical changes she made to this song. The obvious references to that horrible movie is clunky and takes away a little bit from what was a great song.

Yeah, the added lyrics do absolutely nothing for me. And she dropped one of my favorite bits: "think that you could use a dreamer somewhere on your side." Honestly, I think my favorite version of the song is actually this cover by White Widow from some years ago, because it streamlines the lyrics but leaves in my favorite lines.

She's got some habits that others have mentioned that drive me up the wall. There's the repetitive "well" and "baby," which are basically the vocal version of her you-knowing before every sentence (no Stevie, we don't know), and definitely the "he said, she said, I said, my famous friend said" is frustrating, and Lord give me strength for the times when they all intersect.

As far as more specific lines, rather than focusing on lyrics from songs that are generally pretty rough to start with, I thought I'd mention some things that make me go "..." from songs I really love:

Sable on Blonde has "In silence she says... 'excalibur.'" It is just utterly odd. I think the sentiment behind it is beautiful: learning to live with yourself and depend on yourself and not always calling on your most precious magic, your friends, every time you feel like you're having a crisis, just learning to help yourself. But that's not made particularly clear.

I can never decide how I feel about "you can ride high atop your pony" in Bella Donna. Really the song as a whole is kind of random lyrically, but then it has some lines I really enjoy ("come in out of the darkness" and "your face becomes thin, you never thought it could") and sounds so good that I don't really care, but I usually hope that when I first introduce it to someone they are so awed by the epicness that follows that they completely forget about the pony line. I always kind of want to cringe a little, maybe because ponies have an association with fanciful little girls and only that in my head, so it seems childish. I get her drift, it's a circus, and I kinda like the trapeze and scaring all the people part. But it's like, "This is how you want to start your solo career? With ponies?" The answer to that is, of course, yes, because she's Stevie, and really, that fanciful little girl is still alive in her and lives right alongside the wise, down-to-earth survivor, and isn't that the kind of contradiction and complexity that makes us love her?

Also, hi everyone! Longtime lurker, though I haven't been around much in the past few years. I thought I'd finally wade in because I'm pretty excited about the new album.

[Macfanforever]

Originally Posted by teedeerocks

"What's warmer than a sun drenched land?,your hand,your hand - YIKES!!!

All of the lyrics to "Cheaper Than Free" - double YIKES!

What's sappier than an oak tree,Cheaper than Free!

Having said that,I think Stevie and Dave sing it beautifully.

Still love ya babe.

I love "Cheaper Than Free".I think its cute.

[Macfanforever]

I'm glad Stevie does not have the repetitive lyric habits like some other writers of rock and any other types of music saying the same old crap a hundred times for 4 minutes.
I wish others learn from her and sing something senseful.

I dont mind a couple times with a verse.