The Other Side Of The Mirror is a very dark album

[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by michelej1

The only song to me that could even be seen as remotely cheery is Two Kinds of Love.

Michele

Oh, I have to disagree! Upon reflection, "Two Kinds of Love" is a pretty dark, tragic song, and it's another one that she seems to have purposefully distorted the meaning of in interviews. I recall in a radio interview that she said that the two kinds of love were 1) the way you love me (no explanation needed) and 2) the way you walk, i.e., that sexy way you move your hips and carry yourself. I always found that second "kind of love" to be odd. I always interpreted "the way you walk" as being the way you walk away from a destructive relationship to save the other person, i.e., if you love someone, set them free. So the two kinds of love are being together and being apart. And I think this song is, yet again, about drugs... and about her relationship with Joe Walsh- the way that, despite their intense love, they were fueling each others bad behaviors. They had to be "estranged sometimes for their very survival." Literally. The most blatant drug reference: "My third day up, well, his second nighter..."

It's a shame that the song was dripping with that schlocky production and Bruce Hornsby's deadpan vocals. And that sax solo. It's a tasty song cloaked with Cheez Whiz and Bacon Bits.

I think "Alice" is probably the most harrowing song of them all. "Like Alice through the looking glass, she used to know who she was." Ouch! That's some pretty intense honesty. I suppose all of these years we haven't given Stevie enough credit regarding her level of self-awareness. The world at large saw that she was heavy, lethargic and meandering a bit artistically. And on a personal level she knew she was surrounded by sycophants and yes-people who catered to her every indulgence, no matter how destructive. This song proves that she knew what everyone was thinking.