Can we talk about.....Bombay Sapphires?

hippilil86 · #1 10-23-2009, 11:36 AM

because, whatever you desire, I can mend your heart.

holidayroad · #2 10-23-2009, 12:36 PM

Here's a question, is the song about the brand of liquor?.....

LukeA · #3 10-23-2009, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by holidayroad

Here's a question, is the song about the brand of liquor?.....

Yes.

They added the "s" to "Sapphire" days before the CD was manufactured. Its sung as "sapphire" in the song, and the lyrics (as printed in the lyric book thingy they handed out at the TISL record completion dinner) clearly say "Sapphire", along with some slightly different lyrics ("...for the call of the wind")

hippilil86 · #4 10-23-2009, 05:40 PM

It is blue
It is not about you
It is all true
You know who I am

I always thought that this (at least this part) was about Lindsey. It does remind me a little of Blue Denim, almost as an answer, that this song isn't about him, it's about how she feels.... and how everything she's written about him in the past is true?
Actually, I don't know if that makes sense. All I know is that I really like this song.

michelej1 · #5 10-23-2009, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hippilil86

It is blue
It is not about you
It is all true
You know who I am

I always thought that this (at least this part) was about Lindsey. It does remind me a little of Blue Denim, almost as an answer, that this song isn't about him, it's about how she feels.... and how everything she's written about him in the past is true?
Actually, I don't know if that makes sense. All I know is that I really like this song.

I don't think it's about Lindsey, but your pointing out those lyrics does remind me of her talking about their arguments and mentioning the color blue and the blues.

Quote:

If he says this song is a blues song, I will say no, it's a rock song and then we'll argue about it for an hour. . . . It's like, I see it as blue and he sees it as green. It's that kind of thing.

Michele

CADreaming · #6 10-23-2009, 10:05 PM

Love this song...

One of my favorite Stevie quotes is regarding the alcohol inspiration...she's so funny!

Quote:

[Now about the song "Bombay Sapphires" - has the liquor company called to say " thank you' and sent over some product?] No, they haven't, and it's not 'Bombay Sapphire', It's 'Bombay SapphireS! (laughs ) I knew people were going to hit me with that. I got the idea many, many, years ago when we were talking about jewelry and stones, about tile and rubies, Bombay sapphires.It's like a blue-gray kind of star sapphire thing, it's the color of the ocean, and that's what I wrote it about. And I purposely put the 'S' on it so that they wouldn't think I was writing about gin.Gin makes you meaaaannn! It's definitely not a liquor I would have written a song about. (laughs )" ~Stevie Nicks, In News Weekly, May 2, 2001

LukeA · #7 10-23-2009, 10:39 PM

Legal made her add it at the last moment.

CADreaming · #8 10-23-2009, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LukeA

Legal made her add it at the last moment.

Oh, I wouldn't doubt that...I just think it's a hilarious quote.

It still wouldn't necessarily mean it's about gin though...she could have just liked the name...I mean it is catchy...

jrpjr · #9 10-23-2009, 11:38 PM

hate it...every note..i think its one of most unemotional songs and its weirdly produced..sounds like something u would here on a cruise ship and if i did hear it would go to another part of the ship

daniellaaarisen · #10 10-24-2009, 02:30 AM

It took me a while to actually like this song, and its still not a favorite of mine off of TISL. I think there are some really interesting lines in this song, though. Unavoidably interesting.

"To love one another for a while was enough
it was all that I lived for."

"It is colors that I've never seen
I can see past you to the white sand."

"The sea never changes, not really.
It is the constant in my life."

So I have some questions for all of you:
Any concrete facts about this song that you can share? When it was written, what its about (in terms of quotes from Stevie herself, not speculation)?
What do YOU think it is about?

I have a theory, I think.

priestofnothing · #11 10-24-2009, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniellaaarisen

So I have some questions for all of you:
Any concrete facts about this song that you can share? When it was written, what its about (in terms of quotes from Stevie herself, not speculation)?

http://www.inherownwords.com/bombay.htm

Musicman408 · #12 10-24-2009, 09:44 AM

Personally this is one of my faves of TISL. I actually like the way it was produced, kind of that mystical foreign feel to it- can't really describe it at the moment.

The lyrics are stellar, as is most of the TISL album actually.

I'm with Dani, I don't know much of the history of this song, and that would be interesting to find out.

michelej1 · #13 10-24-2009, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniellaaarisen

So I have some questions for all of you:
Any concrete facts about this song that you can share? When it was written, what its about (in terms of quotes from Stevie herself, not speculation)?
What do YOU think it is about?

Stevie said it was her favorite song on the album. Now, I'm not sure we can find any clues to its meaning in this

.

Stevie: Yes [it's her favorite], because it is a song that I thought had a great message. I wrote it in Hawaii two years ago. At that point, in order to write the rest of the songs for this record, I really had to leave my Enchanged box set and Fleetwood Mac behind. Hawaii was very different than any place I'd been. Very green, jade green, very calm, very Zen. And I realized that if you take yourself to a great environment, you can just about get over anything. I was looking outside one day and it was like I was almost seeing my past as a little bit of something that I really wanted to leave behind for awhile. I was looking past the past, out to the ocean and how beautiful it was and how white and inviting the sand was. I thought: I can see past you to the white sand and a message back to me that you are moving on now, you really are moving on. You are letting go of all that stuff that bothered you and you are moving foward. So, for me, it was very important that that song be on the record. I recorded that song two other times, and I didn't like it either time. I went back in for a third time and played it myself to get it the way I had written it when I was in Hawaii that night.

Here's another one:

Stevie: My personal favorite is Bombay Sapphires. when it says, "I can see past you to the white sand," that sentence right there is the whole reason for Bombay Sapphires. It means that I'm really trying to get over something, and though I'm freaked out about it, I'm looking to the green ocean and can see past all of these problems to the incredibly beautiful white sand and the ocean beyond it. I'm gonna be ok, because I am moving past you. And when Bombay Sapphires almost got pulled off the record because it wasn't recorded right, I was horrified that one line was not going to be on the record. It's really important for me to tell people that if they're in an unhappy situation, they should not stay forever and be miserable.

michelej1 · #14 10-24-2009, 12:24 PM

Most of the other quotes are about Macy Gray and not the song itself. Macy was also managed by Howard and so Howard got in touch with her for Stevie. Stevie said she really wanted to ask Sting to sing on it, "but I just chickened out. He was on tour and has a big record out, so I thought he must be very busy. At the last minute of Bombay Sapphire, I thought Macy Gray coud do that part really great if she would. The next day, she was there, did it in about an hour, and was gone. It was a little moment. As people hear the record, all those little moments will be much more special after they've really listened to it and heard what Macy did. She sang a great little part on it. It's very quite, but it's very there."

"I asked Macy because she has that high, little kind of raspy voice that is what I wanted for that sort of reggae kind of song. She's a trip, she's very funny. And she said to me as she came through the door, 'I do not do harmony.' I said, "Well, ok. Let's take the melody off of Bombay Sapphires and just put the high harmony in, and you just sing that like it was the melody, as if there was never another part. As if that's the only part that ever existed.' And she did it perfect."

Musicman408 · #15 10-24-2009, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michelej1

Stevie said it was her favorite song on the album. Now, I'm not sure we can find any clues to its meaning in this

.

Stevie: Yes [it's her favorite], because it is a song that I thought had a great message. I wrote it in Hawaii two years ago. At that point, in order to write the rest of the songs for this record, I really had to leave my Enchanged box set and Fleetwood Mac behind. Hawaii was very different than any place I'd been. Very green, jade green, very calm, very Zen. And I realized that if you take yourself to a great environment, you can just about get over anything. I was looking outside one day and it was like I was almost seeing my past as a little bit of something that I really wanted to leave behind for awhile. I was looking past the past, out to the ocean and how beautiful it was and how white and inviting the sand was. I thought: I can see past you to the white sand and a message back to me that you are moving on now, you really are moving on. You are letting go of all that stuff that bothered you and you are moving foward. So, for me, it was very important that that song be on the record. I recorded that song two other times, and I didn't like it either time. I went back in for a third time and played it myself to get it the way I had written it when I was in Hawaii that night.

Here's another one:

Stevie: My personal favorite is Bombay Sapphires. when it says, "I can see past you to the white sand," that sentence right there is the whole reason for Bombay Sapphires. It means that I'm really trying to get over something, and though I'm freaked out about it, I'm looking to the green ocean and can see past all of these problems to the incredibly beautiful white sand and the ocean beyond it. I'm gonna be ok, because I am moving past you. And when Bombay Sapphires almost got pulled off the record because it wasn't recorded right, I was horrified that one line was not going to be on the record. It's really important for me to tell people that if they're in an unhappy situation, they should not stay forever and be miserable.

Interesting clips. Thanks for the find!!!