Let's Talk About...ANGEL

Dodfather · #1 11-09-2009, 07:17 PM

I thought it was time to resurrect this thread and I don't think this one has been discussed yet (apologies if I'm wrong and should have hit search first!)...

Anyway, I loooooove this track. Believe it or not it wasn't an immediate favourite when I started getting into Tusk but after seeing the following incredible performance from the documentary (possibly my fave Stevie live performance ever) I finally got the song and it;s been one of my faves every since!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPoZTolLmik

So what are everyone's thoughts on this song? I know the popular interpretation is that it's all about Lindsey and how she still loves him, gets the same "wide eyes" when he walks in the room etc but I think it could also be about Mick, and not just because of Carol Ann Hariss's comments in Storms (I take everything in that book with a bucketload of salt!)

"It's funny that you understood"... This could be the surprise at their affair beginning

"we both pretend"... obviously if you're interpreting this as about Mick then it's about them hiding it...

I think the song could equally be interpreted as being about both men, which perhaps was Stevie's intention. Parts of it fit both Mick and Lindsey too well (especially the "look up" lines...she has to look up to everyone, she's very small after all hahaha!)

John really kicks ass on this tune too. That bass line is just fantastic. Really drives the song forward and oproves yet again how underrated he is. Other than The Chain, he gets forgotten!

Have to say I prefer live versions to the one on the album, and I still love that one, purely because of the energy Stevie brings to it. The Tusk tour performances are wonderful, with great interaction between her and Lindsey.

So, thoughts...?

Nikolaj · #2 11-09-2009, 07:40 PM

LOVE it! Love the 'Tusk' version, love love the '80 Warner Home Video recording of 'Angel' in the studio, harmonizing with Lindsey at the piano ( I think she sounds so great right before she shakes her head 'no' and laughs!) and the live performance of it is just great, everything about it. It's about 1o minutes or 11 minutes total of the Warner Video that only runs about an hour, so 'Angel' really is the centerpiece, if you will, of that home video release. 'Angel' was also great at the US Festival in '83. Yet, I assume you are referring to the '79 'Tusk' version of 'Angel'...and it's fantastic. I once had a UK import 45 with a pic sleeve of 'Angel' backed with 'Sisters of the Moon'. I foolishly gave it away.
All of Stevie's "Tusk" songs are just amazing.

Dodfather · #3 11-09-2009, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikolaj

LOVE it! Love the 'Tusk' version, love love the '80 Warner Home Video recording of 'Angel' in the studio, harmonizing with Lindsey at the piano ( I think she sounds so great right before she shakes her head 'no' and laughs!) and the live performance of it is just great, everything about it. It's about 1o minutes or 11 minutes total of the Warner Video that only runs about an hour, so 'Angel' really is the centerpiece, if you will, of that home video release. 'Angel' was also great at the US Festival in '83. Yet, I assume you are referring to the '79 'Tusk' version of 'Angel'...and it's fantastic. I once had a UK import 45 with a pic sleeve of 'Angel' backed with 'Sisters of the Moon'. I foolishly gave it away.
All of Stevie's "Tusk" songs are just amazing.

What was this?! How fantastic! I didn't know that Angel was a UK single! I'd love to see this picture disc...anyone know anything about it?

Nikolaj · #4 11-09-2009, 07:57 PM

Oh, this may be a good thread to put this reference in: Creem was an American rock music magazine in the 70s and 80s, and shortly after 'Tusk' was released, there was a wildly sarcastic 'roundup' of sorts, of Stevie's lyrics from 'Tusk' and I remember this small amount about what had been written about 'Angel':

"Exactly what part of the wind is it that we all long for sometime?-- and, do we?"
- 'you feel good, it's funny that you understood, I knew you would'---- "If you knew that you would, why was it funny that you understood?"

Maybe Creem did this more than once, because I am certain in '83 they also commented about 'Stand Back'-- "how do you DO someone's attention?"

Creem's photo captions were usually quite hilarious, though at times could be needlessly unkind, but the photos were always fun, and in many ways, it was more rock and roll than Rolling Stone had become.

Nikolaj · #5 11-09-2009, 08:03 PM

Hi, Dodfather. It wasn't an actual picture disc 45 of 'Angel' bw 'Sisters Of The Moon', it was a photo sleeve with a regular black vinyl 7" 45 inside of the paper photo sleeve. The photo had all of Fleetwood Mac, if I recall right, Stevie had her arms folded, and I believe was wearing a red blouse, LB had his short-cropped hair, I don't recall much else about it, but I believe the same photo was on both sides of the paper sleeve.

louielouie2000 · #6 11-09-2009, 08:18 PM

This is actually one of my least favorite of Stevie's Mac tracks. The lyrics are cliche and the vocal is boring. The song just never really goes anywhere. I know this is a perennial favorite of Stevie fans, but it just does NOTHING for me.

FMlex · #7 11-09-2009, 09:07 PM

The Tusk doc performance of this song is so cute! Stevie and Lindsey are just presh. Stevie's all smiley and everything.

I prefer +FM "Angel" over -FM "Angel"...

See what I mean? Doesn't have the same appeal to me.

I still look up... I try hard not to look up... that girl was me...

thatgirlwasme · #8 11-09-2009, 09:15 PM

Love this song as you can probably tell from my screen name. I think her lyrics "I still look up/when you walk in the room/I've got the same wide eyes/now they tell the story/I try not to reach out when you turn around and say hello/we both pretend/You're no great pretender" are some of the most spot on about relationships, forbidden love, and breakups that she has ever written.

A

Ghost_Tracker · #9 11-09-2009, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dodfather

IAnyway, I loooooove this track. Believe it or not it wasn't an immediate favourite when I started getting into Tusk but after seeing the following incredible performance from the documentary (possibly my fave Stevie live performance ever) I finally got the song and it;s been one of my faves every since!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPoZTolLmik

So what are everyone's thoughts on this song? ?

I'm planning to write a manifesto about it some day but I'm a little worried there aren't enough trees in the world to provide enough paper for it....

Lala · #10 11-09-2009, 10:19 PM

You feel good
It's funny that you understood
I knew you would
When you were good
You were very...very good

Pretty much sums up my favourite part of the song. The last verse (I still look up...) is amazing. Any song about the feelings that remain after something or someone is gone get to me. Also, I love that it's not all down in the dumps...kind of bittersweet. The harmonies are amazing.

This spring I showed my best friend the Tusk doc performance of Angel and I'm pretty sure it was what sealed the deal to convince her that Fleetwood Mac is an amazing band. Later, in the summer we were drinking beer on my old roommate's trampoline and listening to the song on repeat.

Oh, and it's for SURE about Lindsey

GoldDustWoman87 · #11 11-10-2009, 07:13 AM

I love this song. I watch the Angel from the 1979 Tusk tour at least 3 times a day (you know the up tempo version, which I think is always how it should be played!).

I always thought it was about Mick but according to other threads, Mick thinks most songs are about him!

'And to those that I love like a ghost through a fog, like a charmed hour and a haunted song, and the angel... of my dreams.' - these lyrics always make me swoon.

CADreaming · #12 11-10-2009, 08:01 AM

Love "Angel". It's got a great groove. The Tusk rehearsal version is a fav of mine. I can't help it - Lindsey raising his eyebrows at Stevie when she's at his mic is just cute.

Lyrically, I like the line that says, "we both pretend but you're no great pretender".

bellagypsy79 · #13 11-10-2009, 09:15 AM

I love this song! It's fun song to listen too when your day is going just right.

GypsySorcerer · #14 11-10-2009, 09:19 AM

I like the song, especially live. I ain't no shipper, nor am I one who believes everything she writes is about Lindsey, but "Angel" is an exception. I think it's unequivocally about him.

My favorite line is "so I close my eyes softly, til I become that part of the wind, that we all long for sometimes."

FMlex · #15 11-10-2009, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CADreaming

Love "Angel". It's got a great groove. The Tusk rehearsal version is a fav of mine. I can't help it - Lindsey raising his eyebrows at Stevie when she's at his mic is just cute.

Yep I like that part, too!

I'm just glad in the end they decided to have Lindsey go over to her mic instead of making her run back and forth!