Question re: Nightbird

**SisterNightroad** · #2 09-05-2016, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnnystorms

Does anyone have an idea as to why Nightbird was the third single from WH? It's a terrible single choice. I assume the record company wanted a Fleetwood Mac-ish sound.? What sprung to mine for me was Nothing Ever Changes. I suspect Stevie didn't like the choice either as there was no video.
Anyone have inside info or opinions?

My opinion is that, after a mid-tempo song like If Anyone Falls and a dance upbeat song like Stand Back, they wanted to choose a ballad for a third single.
Also since it's about Robin, Stevie wanted it out as a single for personal reasons, she wanted the song to be heard the most she could as a tribute to her friend.

"I spent about 3 hours the other, a couple of days ago, in my bathroom with the [Wild Heart] album, just reading it, you know, in the middle of the night by myself, just reading every little word, going, 'it's real.' And, I thought, you know, the dedication to Robin... her strength, you know. Uh, maybe, maybe Nightbird, you know, will inspire somebody. Maybe it will, maybe it will inspire somebody else to go and do some research. Maybe it will make somebody be a doctor. You know, maybe some kid will go I'm gonna do cancer research and I'm gonna beat leukemia. That's what I hope that maybe Sandy [Stewart] and I did with Nightbird."
~Stevie Nicks, Jim Ladd Innerview, 1983

However it's interesting to note that on the report of the Wild heart sessions that was on Ivory Keys was written:

In October 1983, four months after the release of The Wild Heart, Bobbye Hall was paid for a week in the studio adding percussion overdubs to "All The Beautiful Worlds." Was "All The Beautiful Worlds" being prepped as a b-side for the upcoming "Nightbird" single? Did Stevie decide to keep the song her her next album, Rock A Little? Those questions remain unanswered

So there's a chance that initially All the beautiful worlds was to be the single, while at the last moment it's been left out of the album and it's been replaced by Nightbird.