Interesting Interview with Word Magazine

[LilyRose]

Originally Posted by sparky

What is slightly more interesting is her now on again focus on Lindsey as her muse. Sometimes it is off again, but now it is on, and I am perhaps the only person in fandom who finds it so sad, boring, unhealthy and utterly uninteresting. Who cares if it is true? The only thing less interesting than her dwelling on it is the endless fascination that fans have with it.

The true value of of art is how it moves us relative to our own experiences. Is anyone out there sobbing over "You May Be The One" or HAEWAFY because it is about Whoever the hell she wrote it about? No. It is because it reminds us of our own loss, and expresses something we have been unable to express of our own volition and talent. Good art moves people because it stirs inaccessible or difficult to express feelings within them - relative to their own lives. Not because they are living vicariously through people they have never met and will never know intimately.

I have no knowledge of other rabid fan groups, but I have never talked to another Joni Mitchell fan who endlessly references Larry Klein when talking about how the songs on Night Ride Home are so great. Is that because Joni never mentions him? I dunno. Chicken or egg. Maybe Stevie encourages all this bs by constantly talking about Lindsey.

The thing that I find lost in not only Stevie's harping on Lindsey, but also in the discussion of her most potent songs, is why in the hell these songs affect people so much. It is almost an endless circle of denial and shame about why her songs have such deep meaning to them. I appreciate the fact that she is so open about her influences, as much as I find the LB references tiresome. If nothing else, I have always loved TLH for her honesty. But there is a strange dichotomy between the reverence fans have for her backstory and the wide open blank pages about why the songs have resonance to them. I have almost ZERO interest in her inspirations for her songs. Almost ZERO. What amazes me is that she so often captures my emotional experiences at the perfect times of my life when she puts the songs out.
And that helps me to learn more about myself and has been invaluable in helping me to traverse the sometimes difficult moments I encounter in my own life.

Such personal discussion is ridiculously, glaringly, and shockingly absent from almost all exchanges about her songwriting. It is a black hole that leaves me both shocked and dismayed. I am not sure if it indicates a shallowness among most Stevie fans or a lack of insight that her most ardent fans have into their own psyches. She writes some shattering, jarring and devastating pieces of music about the deepest of emotional experiences and all people have to say is "LINDSEY LINDSEY LINDSEY".
Or maybe, "OMG IS IT ABOUT JOE?"

Seriously, folks?

Do people think that her songs are merely a Shawl draped National Enquirer version of her love life thrown onto tape for her own personal edification? And the one who figures it out gets a made in china crystal ball from a Hollywood Blvd gift shop as a grand prize?

The LB or other past lover song inspiration obsession reminds me of a bad B movie scenario. A gifted Freudian psychotherapist has just delivered a 6 phrase response to a very sad and lifelong troubled patient and has explained the origin, nature of, and solution to a problem that has haunted them for many years. In those 6 phrases all is explained. The seed, the problem, and the solution. And the patient bolts out of the chair and screams, "This is all about your mother, Freud! And you based your research on a bunch of mentally ill women and drug addicts! I finally figured you out!" and promptly runs screaming from the room. And the patient spends the rest of their lives repeating that to everyone they ever meet. In the process, they forget everything the therapist ever said to them. The key to their freedom is lost.

Bitch was truest of all in her writing in these lines: "Don't listen to her, listen through her."

It amazes me, these 35 years of hearing her voice, that so many people cannot, and WILL NOT hear that.

I do believe she is partially to blame. Before, she maintained a certain mystique when it came to her music, lately she's more and more comfortable telling the stories behind her songs.

However, as much as I like to hear the backstory, it doesn't make me any less inclined to have the want to look at the song as a true piece of art. As humans we have more than just one layer. I find myself able to appreciate her reason for writing the song, as well as my ability to turn it on myself and find my own personal meaning.

Maybe those of us who are fascinated by who or what her songs are about are shallow. Okay.

"Only the shallow know themsevles." - Oscar Wilde

[Regina]

I remember when the Penguin had song interpretations. It was actually Ledge 5...where those interested would tear apart songs, looking for hidden meanings (great fun for ex-English-major/geeks like moi). I remember we went on and on about the Blue Lamp song. Lindsey! Mick! Heartache! yada, yada.
Then, we ran across and interview re: the meaning of this song.
"Well, I had this blue lamp..."

I still laugh when I think about it.
Stevie's revelations about her inspirations are just part of the total package. Sometimes, they are unexpected; sometimes, heartwarming and/or heartbreaking; sometimes (as in the case of the BL) hilarious. But, they are so "her."
And, whatever they are written for--the real secret of Stevie's appeal, to me, is in that moment when a song touches us. The moment that CAN'T really be put down in words. The moment when tears come to my eyes and there is a place in my gut that is just...touched...in a way I can't even begin to write about. And she's done that a lot.

So, yeah. She feeds the Lindsey-wagon or shipper-wagon (and/or [as I suspect]really believes what she's saying at this particular moment in time) but I kind of like knowing what goes on during her creative process.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by sparky

Do people think that her songs are merely a Shawl draped National Enquirer version of her love life thrown onto tape for her own personal edification?

You mean they're not?

Originally Posted by sparky

And the one who figures it out gets a made in china crystal ball from a Hollywood Blvd gift shop as a grand prize?

I was thinking more snow globe.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by LilyRose

"Only the shallow know themsevles." - Oscar Wilde

"Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter."
Oscar Wilde


I love Oscar Wilde. I could post his quotes all day long.

[tabruns]

Originally Posted by sparky

Bitch was truest of all in her writing in these lines: "Don't listen to her, listen through her."
.

You should say "She was truest..." etc. etc.

I don't participate in the "who was the song about" threads either, but I can understand why some people like that sort of thing.

[SapphireSister]

Computer Baby would have been a great addition to In Your Dreams . Seriously though, if I had not heard this story directly from her I would so not have believed she ever wrote a song about this called Computer Baby. I would think it was some of us fans making fun of her. Only Stevie baby, only Stevie baby.

[GoldDustWoman22]

I have to say that when I first "heard" Stevie sing it was Landslide (I know, original right ?). I graduated this year and it totally had to do with all the emotions I was going through (moving away from home, saying goodbye etc.). I thought it was an awesome song, not knowing anything about the background between her and Lindsey or the house in Aspen or anything haha. Well then I liked the song so much that I bought the entire White and Rumours album just because of how good that one song was. Well those two albums were the only thing I listened to for about a month. Until I started to buy all the other Fm/solo stuff. Now when I first started listening to Rumours I had absolutely no idea about any of the behind the scenes drama going on. I just loved the fact that all of the songs on both albums were totally relatable and beautiful to listen to. The harmonies, lyrics and instrumentation made my listening experience. I had fun relating my own personal experiences to the songs themselves. And not to mention that album is what made fall in love with Stevie!! I was amazed at her lyrics and her imagery. As someone who writes as an escape method, it was something I could really appreciate . And not to mention her voice! Obviously this obsession led to more research during which I found the ledge (best. thing. ever ) and more about the history of FM. Obviously the drama made me want to go listen to it again and see if I could really tell what was going on through the songs. And I think that's what Stevie's trying to do when she talks about Lindsey. She knows that people like the songs because they are fabulous. But when she tells her own story about them it gives people more reason to really kind of speculate what the song is about. And especially with Lindsey, everyone knows the story so they see it as their own personal outlook into Stevie's life.Also, who hasn't had that on again/off again relationship, I'm sure people can relate to their long winded "affair". And Stevie probably tells stories about her songs because she knows someone else has experienced something similar. So by telling a story she is essentially forming a deeper one on one connection of that shared experience with a fan. Of course no matter how many stories she tells about a song that I can relate to, it will never change my meaning of the song. Her universal lyrics to me, are not affected by the personal stories she shares. However, they add some intrigue to make you want to the lyrics a little closer next time.

Btw, I sincerely apologize if this post put anyone to sleep.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by sparky

The true value of of art is how it moves us relative to our own experiences. Is anyone out there sobbing over "You May Be The One" or HAEWAFY because it is about Whoever the hell she wrote it about? No. It is because it reminds us of our own loss, and expresses something we have been unable to express of our own volition and talent. Good art moves people because it stirs inaccessible or difficult to express feelings within them - relative to their own lives. Not because they are living vicariously through people they have never met and will never know intimately.

Your comments assume that interest in her relationships doesn't also tell us something about ourselves and that that's not the draw in the first place. I started reading Anne Morrow Lindbergh in high school and I've been reading and re-reading her and Charles and their daughters Anne Spencer and Reeve ever since. I am deeply interested in the Lindberghs, it's true. But what keeps me drawn to them is that they express something when discussing their relationships to each other and to the luminaries that past through their lives (like Antoine St. Exupery, who has also inspired Stevie) that I feel about my own relationships.

When I read Anne's first diary, it began when she was about the same age as I was. She was 16 and so was I. I had always had certain feelings, but I was barely aware of why I felt that way. When she articulated her reactions in prose or narrative form, it suddenly dawned on me, "That's why I feel that way, but I could never put it into words before. I could never put my finger on it." Conversely, if she finds herself feeling shy or at a loss and says she doesn't know why, from the reader's objective viewpoint I can say, "Anne, it's because your sister Elizabeth was being so pushy. That's why you retreated. You wanted to put yourself in her shadow before he had a chance to hurt you by putting you there himself."

You get to a point where you're explaining yourself when you explain them. If Fox Mulder acts in a way that's not explained in the script, but I feel I know why, when I discuss his motives, I'm revealing a part of myself and my own values and learning about them too.

I feel this about the Lindberghs and about the X-Files and about Dickens and Austen for that matter. I think it's a tool to explore your own feelings about loyalty, love, betrayal, or aging. While we may be wrong in guessing what or whom Stevie's songs are about, I don't think in doing so we're ignoring why those songs speak to us. Indeed, I think just the opposite is true. There are things that I like and I know it's about me, not about them. Yesterday, when the MDA announced its cutting ties with Jerry Lewis and Jerry responded "it's none of your business," I thought about Jerry Lewis' history and, of course, that led me to think of Lewis & Martin. I'm fascinated by Lewis and Martin in much the same way I am about SnL and FM and I know my interest in these frayed partnerships, is more about me than about any of the couples involved.

Just because not everyone takes the same road into their own head as you do, doesn't make them shallow. My father had a stroke in February 2005 and died in May 2005, so when Stevie first put Circle Dance into her setlist that year, did I want to think she put it in there for her father? Yeah, I did. I really, really did. It made a difference in the way I heard the song. It made a difference in the way I felt that song.

Michele

[WildHearted]

How is it shallow to want to know what inspired a song? When that, in itself, can give you a deeper look into the meaning behind the song, as well as give you a new persepective on it? That's in no way shallow, in my opinion. But to each their own.

While we're on the subject, I thought I would share this, which I found to be a pretty interesting and mostly accurate analysis..

http://palepinksatin.tumblr.com/post...osts-on-stevie

There are some things I would dispute, but I enjoyed reading it and it did make me think a bit about the whole topic.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by WildHearted

How is it shallow to want to know what inspired a song? When that, in itself, can give you a deeper look into the meaning behind the song, as well as give you a new persepective on it?

And as you delve into the meaning, I think public information is ideally suited for public discussion. I could discuss why a Fleetwood Mac song reminds me of my childhood hernia operation, but you don't know me or my medical qualms, so we wouldn't be able to exchange many posts on that subject. You could listen to (read) me discuss the repair of my abdominal muscles, but it's not something that we can really talk about together.

We only know a small fraction of the events that make up FM's life, but what we do know is common knowledge. We share it. We can all participate in the discussion of the Landslide fight or the HAEWAFY fountain.

We analyze what's most what's most accessible to all. It's like being in school. I have very personal views on Mark Twain, but that's not what we discuss in a literature class. We discuss the universal themes, the historical facts, the ones we all know, build upon and extract ideas from collectively.

That's what you do in a group. You find common ground. If I was only writing to my brother, I'd discuss lyrics that reminded us of our shared childhood and, since he was there, he'd know exactly why those words speak to me. But on a music forum, of course you're going to talk about the band, their documented events and published words. That's the kind of thing that lends itself best to general conversation. I don't think a public bulletin board is the place where you'd naturally expound upon idosyncratic song reactions that only have meaning to you. Doesn't mean you don't have those reactions.

Michele

[WildHearted]

Brava, Michele :clap:

On a different note.... is this a hypothetical '57 Chevy, or do they really have one?

[LilyRose]

Originally Posted by WildHearted

On a different note.... is this a hypothetical '57 Chevy, or do they really have one?

Don't cha know, they take it for drives on the weekend?

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by WildHearted

Brava, Michele :clap:

On a different note.... is this a hypothetical '57 Chevy, or do they really have one?

They do have a music corporation together called something like "ThenMusic" or "ThenSounds". I forget which exactly.

It's kind of funny about cars because even when they were together Stevie seemed to speak in terms of it being her car or his. They seemed to have separate cars. She'll discuss their living quarters jointly, but not cars.

Michele

[equeen102289]

Even though she thanks Rupert Hine by name in the OSOTM liner notes, I still, for whatever reason, thought he was the Computer Baby. It's really interesting to learn that it's referencing Joe, though. Good article-- for that little tidbit alone.

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by sparky

I also think this is an interesting article for the computer baby revelation alone.

I don't blame her for finding new ways of getting past the drug fascination in interviews. It is the most base thing about her identity. It hardly makes her unique among artists or musicians. It is about as interesting as her bleached blonde hair.

What is slightly more interesting is her now on again focus on Lindsey as her muse. Sometimes it is off again, but now it is on, and I am perhaps the only person in fandom who finds it so sad, boring, unhealthy and utterly uninteresting. Who cares if it is true? The only thing less interesting than her dwelling on it is the endless fascination that fans have with it.

The true value of of art is how it moves us relative to our own experiences. Is anyone out there sobbing over "You May Be The One" or HAEWAFY because it is about Whoever the hell she wrote it about? No. It is because it reminds us of our own loss, and expresses something we have been unable to express of our own volition and talent. Good art moves people because it stirs inaccessible or difficult to express feelings within them - relative to their own lives. Not because they are living vicariously through people they have never met and will never know intimately.

I have no knowledge of other rabid fan groups, but I have never talked to another Joni Mitchell fan who endlessly references Larry Klein when talking about how the songs on Night Ride Home are so great. Is that because Joni never mentions him? I dunno. Chicken or egg. Maybe Stevie encourages all this bs by constantly talking about Lindsey.

The thing that I find lost in not only Stevie's harping on Lindsey, but also in the discussion of her most potent songs, is why in the hell these songs affect people so much. It is almost an endless circle of denial and shame about why her songs have such deep meaning to them. I appreciate the fact that she is so open about her influences, as much as I find the LB references tiresome. If nothing else, I have always loved TLH for her honesty. But there is a strange dichotomy between the reverence fans have for her backstory and the wide open blank pages about why the songs have resonance to them. I have almost ZERO interest in her inspirations for her songs. Almost ZERO. What amazes me is that she so often captures my emotional experiences at the perfect times of my life when she puts the songs out.
And that helps me to learn more about myself and has been invaluable in helping me to traverse the sometimes difficult moments I encounter in my own life.

Such personal discussion is ridiculously, glaringly, and shockingly absent from almost all exchanges about her songwriting. It is a black hole that leaves me both shocked and dismayed. I am not sure if it indicates a shallowness among most Stevie fans or a lack of insight that her most ardent fans have into their own psyches. She writes some shattering, jarring and devastating pieces of music about the deepest of emotional experiences and all people have to say is "LINDSEY LINDSEY LINDSEY".
Or maybe, "OMG IS IT ABOUT JOE?"

Seriously, folks?

Do people think that her songs are merely a Shawl draped National Enquirer version of her love life thrown onto tape for her own personal edification? And the one who figures it out gets a made in china crystal ball from a Hollywood Blvd gift shop as a grand prize?

The LB or other past lover song inspiration obsession reminds me of a bad B movie scenario. A gifted Freudian psychotherapist has just delivered a 6 phrase response to a very sad and lifelong troubled patient and has explained the origin, nature of, and solution to a problem that has haunted them for many years. In those 6 phrases all is explained. The seed, the problem, and the solution. And the patient bolts out of the chair and screams, "This is all about your mother, Freud! And you based your research on a bunch of mentally ill women and drug addicts! I finally figured you out!" and promptly runs screaming from the room. And the patient spends the rest of their lives repeating that to everyone they ever meet. In the process, they forget everything the therapist ever said to them. The key to their freedom is lost.

Bitch was truest of all in her writing in these lines: "Don't listen to her, listen through her."

It amazes me, these 35 years of hearing her voice, that so many people cannot, and WILL NOT hear that.

Alas, that is what makes the world go round. My best friend cannot stand to know what inspired a song. She hates it when I tell her the story behind songs. Despises it. It changes what makes the song personal to her or causes her to think beyond it's entertainment value. I, on the other hand, am totally fascinated by a writer's inspiration and feel it gives revelation into the true meaning behind the lyrics and an in depth look into the artist or the songwriter. In the end of the day, isn't that what the writer wants the reader to do anyway? On the surface, yes the reader should be entertained. But, if the writer wasn't baring their soul or had a need to reveal themselves to others (and the way they do that is through writing), then they wouldn't put their most personal thoughts and feelings out there for all the world to see. Is it wrong that you're only entertained or interpret the songs how they affect you personally? No, not at all! You've have given the writer the best gift by allowing your life to be touched by their words. And, is it wrong for someone else to interpret the truth of the lyrics, discover the subject for the inspiration or ponder the writer's reason for a line like 'If he leaves her he'll be losing the chance to stay alive'? No, not at all! They have also given the writer the best gift by hearing the heart of the poetry and in some way connecting to the emotion behind the words and being able to say, "I get you."