Appreciation of "Everybody Finds Out..."

[BigLee770]

Hi Everyone,
It has just recently struck me how brilliant this song is !! Up until now my favourite song from SYW was always "Thrown Down" but i was driving the other night and the lyrics really just kicked in. It also seems to be doing quite well on the Stevie Rocker thread so I was wondering what everyone else thinks of it...? I love from 3 mins onwards and how she literally just spits out the lyrics "when everybody finds out !!" and the strings raise up!

Were there ever any previous demo's of this?

Also any speculation on who this about? - (Could be wrong and we probably wont know until the autobiography - due the 12th of never!!) To me it has to be about Lindsey; but that's maybe only because I like to think him and Stevie had a little "thing" probably in and around or shortly after the Dance tour etc. and this could be in response!? But then again if there were any demo's or lyrics from it years ago this blows that theory out of the water! lol

Ps for anyone who also really likes Thrown Down which one wins for you ? Hence the poll - I can't decide yet so try convincing me !!!!

[nailatixela]

Love EFO. Isn't it true that those "strings" are actually just guitar(s)?

No idea who it is about...but for the poll, I had to vote for Thrown Down. It's my favorite song on SYW. Thrown Down is a classic Mac sounding tune with amazing lyrics.

[Sahara]

That climax with the strings is purely epic! For me it evokes a woman running from the truth, the frantic chase and the moment just before it catches up with her -- when "everybody finds out", if you will

I'm a massive fan of Thrown Down and I think they're quite similar in many ways. They both tell a story and I think Lindsey's backing vocals have an enormous impact on both. Don't make me choose!

[Musicman408]

Both songs are two of my faves- classic! But EFO totally melts face!!

[DefDumbandBlond]

Assuming we are going by album versions for this, I'm going with 'Everybody Finds Out'. I love 'Thrown Down' but I love the "single mix" and this one demo I have of it (not sure which one it is that I have, I know there a few floating around) a bit more.

[Musicman408]

Is it just me, or does it seem like all of our polls these days are ending in ties, or are EXTREMELY close?! I love it, but I feel like it's closer than it's ever been!

[daniellaaarisen]

It's a tough call.... but I go with "Thrown Down" simply because I think it's just short of perfect. I wish they'd incorporated the guitar riff from the "wall of sound" version, but other than that it's simply awesome. The lyrics, the fantastic production, Stevie's voice... it's all there and it's all beautiful.

[SapphireSister]

EFO by a landslide. I really never understood what the fusswas about Thrown Down. It's an average song to me at best and I don't like hearing Stevie sing about barricades. Always makes me picture orange cones on the side of the road to block traffic. Back to EFO - probably my favorite Stevie song on SYW. A true rocker and the symphony break down at the end is killer! This song is top notch in my book! And how do any lyrics in Thrown Down compare to "When love starts out in the darkness, it doesn't do well in the light. Affairs of the heart that start out in the dark usually stay with the night"? That's Stevie Nicks poetry in motion right there and can't be beat.

[GypsySorcerer]

Hmmm. I like EFO, but I have some problems with it. It's energetic, and Stevie delivers a powerhouse vocal. But some of the lyrics make me cringe: "She gets on a midnight plane, she's done it a thousand times" and "You can't love him, you can't have him, I do have him most of time." It reminds me of a playground spat: "Nah nah nah nah nah nah."

So my vote goes to "Thrown Down." I especially love the WOS version.

[APerfectLie]

As to what it is about, I believe the song was originally called "Monica". Stevie even refers to it as Monica in Destiny Rules. So it may have just been inspired by the whole Monica Lewinsky scandal. However, there was this interesting interpretation on BuckinghamNicks that made me think:

"ANNA speculates:

I think I know what Stevie is referring to in this song. Stevie is singing about a woman's decline. This woman gets on a midnight plane, she has done it a thousand times,and she is tired. I think this woman is Christine McVie. Stevie says when love starts out in the darkness, it usually doesn't do well in the light. Affairs of the heart that start out in the dark usually stay in the night. The affair she is speaking of is the affair between Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham.

This affair is something that has been kept under wraps forever. Not a lot of light has been shed on it. It's been there for years. And in Thrown Down, Stevie says it threw a barricade on the group. I guess like Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall and all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put him back together again. She has sung about this metaphor before in songs of hers. So, this whole thing is not recent. It's historical. Think of the songs Hold Me and Think About Me and Bleed To Love Her. I believe these songs were centered around Lindsey and Christine. And it's so perfectly natural for these two to have a relationship because they do have so much history together, it's just
that it does for sure hurt Stevie, and that is what she sings about in this song.

See, I think Christine is saying to Stevie in this song "I know he loves me, every day he calls me, he says he adores me, what can I say?" And Stevie responds to Christine, "You can't have him, you can't love him, I do have him, most of the time." What Stevie means here is that she and Lindsey have this thing. They have a connection. They were meant to follow a path together. And this is something Chris will never have. So she tells Chris, You Can't. Stevie is quite furious in this song because it hurts her to see Lindsey and Chris steal away together anytime they can, whenever they can "get away." It's devastating to her. And that's why--the honest to God's truth--Christine had to leave the band. Sure!

I believe Chris was sick of the traveling, and the going here, there, and everywhere. I believe she wanted to go home to England. We read she has other businesses, like cooking, and art. But I also, THINK, that she had to leave because of the ongoing affair she had with Lindsey. All of this brings me back to when Stevie and Mick had their affair. They knew it would break up Fleetwood Mac. They stopped it. They ended it. Done. Over. FM survived. I am not a Christine basher. I miss her a lot. I wish she could have stayed. She was like a balm to Fleetwood Mac, she was a healer. But when Stevie says she spends every day waiting for the day....she rarely goes out...waiting for the day... when everybody finds out...don't you know? don't you know? I mean this is heavy stuff here. But I guess she figures who the hell cares, it's all over now, probably no one will figure it out, and I am tired of keeping it all inside. I WISH SHE'D WRITE HER BOOK. But anyway, that's my opinion of EFO. It's daring to post, but I believe it's the truth."

[aleuzzi]

EFO definitely. What a kick butt song.

[shebop]

Originally Posted by SapphireSister

EFO by a landslide. I really never understood what the fuss about Thrown Down. It's an average song to me at best and I don't like hearing Stevie sing about barricades. Always makes me picture orange cones on the side of the road to block traffic. Back to EFO - probably my favorite Stevie song on SYW. A true rocker and the symphony break down at the end is killer! This song is top notch in my book! And how to any lyrics in Thrown Down compare to "When love starts out in the darkness, it doesn't do well in the light. Affairs of the heart that start out in the dark usually stay with the night"? That's Stevie Nicks poetry in motion right there and can't be beat.

That lyric is exactly what kills me about EFO - I love the whole song - but I have repeated that line so many times I can't keep count - love it!!!!!!!

[michelej1]

EFO, Thrown Down and Miranda were my favorite songs on the album. I had to force myself not to play them to the exclusion of all else.

It's sort of a retro song. Dance, disco, unexpected for FM.

I like it because the lyrics give us two points of view, the (other) woman's and the narrator's, who knows the woman is fooling herself, to the point of decline and insanity. She has this attitude and air of false bravado, yet she is dying inside, pitiable.

I like the denial, the slipping mask. Even a line like, "You can't have him. I do have him. Most of the time." Well, that word most tells the whole story of loss and insecurity.

I love Lindsey's background vocals. Anywhere we can baby. Everytime he can -- get away. I love the tough interjection of "baby" there.

I also like the phrase "get away." Because it means two things: (1) everytime we can escape, (2) back off -- get away, lady.

Love it. I also like the way Stevie says "what can I say?" The playful boasting, kind of reminds me of Enchanted (it's a shame that you wanted me, you didn't try). I like the teasing.

Of course, I think Thrown Down is more of a triumph as a song, but I love EFO.

Michele

[liamtgallagher]

Originally Posted by SapphireSister

EFO by a landslide. I really never understood what the fuss about Thrown Down. It's an average song to me at best and I don't like hearing Stevie sing about barricades. Always makes me picture orange cones on the side of the road to block traffic. Back to EFO - probably my favorite Stevie song on SYW. A true rocker and the symphony break down at the end is killer! This song is top notch in my book! And how to any lyrics in Thrown Down compare to "When love starts out in the darkness, it doesn't do well in the light. Affairs of the heart that start out in the dark usually stay with the night"? That's Stevie Nicks poetry in motion right there and can't be beat.

That's the sort of barricade that I imagine when she sings it in Thrown Down.

I love both of these songs, and can't decide which one I prefer. I only really "got" Everybody Finds Out recently, but it's become a favourite from SYW. The viciousness of "You can't love him, You can't have him, I do have him, most of the time, Anywhere we can" is so surprising coming from Stevie. Even on Rumours, she was never that cruel. She's taunting the person, and the fact that Lindsey is singing with her makes it worse. Despite this cruelty, there's a fragility in the song. She sings "I KNOW he loves me," like she's trying to convince herself that he does love her, like she's worried that she's losing him.

[Dodfather]

Aw man this was a tough choice! I had to go with Thrown Down though because I just think it's such a brilliant track with a genuinely clever and interesting lyric. Stevie is writing from a different perspective than usual and I like that. Having said that, I LOVE Everybody Finds Out The lyric is so brutal and those strings... Hell YEAH!