"Goodbye Baby" the best track on Say You Will????

The Tower · #1 04-16-2003, 03:12 AM

I was really hoping that Stevie would do it in the same key.... who the hell was I kidding?????

But, it's great.... All you have to think about is that Stevie had an abortion and wrote this song about it.... and then all your emotions pour out.......

"Goodbye, baby....." (literally)

The whole "Don't take me to the tower.... and take me child away....." is sooooooooo unbelievable.....

It's like they took Stevie into the studio after she'd been crying for hours and said "you have to record this song".

It just makes me cry......

LilyRose · #2 04-16-2003, 03:48 AM

It absolutely kills me! Having "Say Goodbye" and "Goodbye Baby" back to back is heart wrenching!

Stevie's harmonies on "Say Goodbye" remind me of her Buckingham Nicks voice; and I've never heard her sound like she does on "Goodbye Baby".
Just a simply breathtaking album all together. There isn't one song that I don't like.

Susie

tommer · #3 04-16-2003, 03:58 AM

at this point i think it's SYW's best track, it's a real heartbreaking little tune, i keep listening to it over and over instead of playing the entire album, it's not that i don't find the album to be amazing enough, it's just that i can't resist playing this song one more time, and another, and once more...
yesterday i found myself in a boring lecture, while goodbye baby keep playing in my head, i was too tired to leave, so i just put the jacket's cape on, took out my minidisc, and started listening, i just couldn't resist it..

strandinthewind · #4 04-16-2003, 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Tower
. . . All you have to think about is that Stevie had an abortion and wrote this song about it.... and then all your emotions pour out....... "Goodbye, baby....." (literally)

Although the demo smacks of this theme, there has never been any confirmation this song is about an abortion she admitted to having with Don Henley's child, presumably at around the time this song was made.

I think this song was originally solely about the clandestine taking of Rhiannon's baby in the Rhiannon stories (perhaps thereby including her own experiences in this area). Then, Stevie changed it by changing the verses from the demo and adding the apparently new chorus to make it fit the theme of this current recording. So, while I think the abortion issue is present in this song, I think the new version indicates the song is now more about the loss of a loved partner (musical and/or sexual). For example, I think the "Yes, I was outspoken - don't forget me" line really doesn't work in the context of this song solely being about an abortion. I think she is referring to herself as the one not to be forgotten by this alleged partner. Also, in this version, I think the "goodbye baby" line is seemingly referring to her saying goodbye the partner not a child.

I also had a wild and possibly incoherent and totally illogical thought

last night while listening to this that she could mean the "child" in this song to represent one of her songs, which she and others have repeatedly and consistently referred to and/or analogized as her children. The "Tower" in this case would be a metaphor for a recording studio and LB would be the one taking her "child" away to produce it. Then, the rest of the song would be about LB and how after he behaved like an ass for the hell of it (self admission

) on her songs because he was angry with her and then taking forever to lay down the music tracks (hence the time reference), she then slipped away from their relationship without saying goodbye (after all this was allegedly pre-Rumors and they were still together during part if not most of that time).

But, no matter what the actual meaning of this song, I love it!!!!

Vianna · #5 04-16-2003, 07:03 AM

This is the song they should have released as a single. It's hauntingly beautiful and heart-wrenching. I love it.

CarneVaca · #6 04-16-2003, 08:31 AM

I'm inclined to believe Stevie built ambiguity into the song intentionally. And she did it in a clever way. The abortion theme is evident to me, but who can really say? Then the song veers into the theme of lost love. Of course those aren't mutually exclusive.

Fundamentally, it is a song about loss, and that is why it's touching us all. Who hasn't experienced loss? The song is art in its purest form because it takes us to that place, validates our feelings and envelopes us in its sheer emotive beauty. And the beauty borne of the loss gives us, paradoxically, a conduit for embracing the loss and drawing hope from it.

Eh, it makes sense to me.

strandinthewind · #7 04-16-2003, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by CarneVaca
I'm inclined to believe Stevie built ambiguity into the song intentionally. And she did it in a clever way. The abortion theme is evident to me, but who can really say? Then the song veers into the theme of lost love. Of course those aren't mutually exclusive.

Fundamentally, it is a song about loss, and that is why it's touching us all. Who hasn't experienced loss? The song is art in its purest form because it takes us to that place, validates our feelings and envelopes us in its sheer emotive beauty. And the beauty borne of the loss gives us, paradoxically, a conduit for embracing the loss and drawing hope from it.

Eh, it makes sense to me.

Hey - you said in an earlier post in another thread there was no need to wax poetic on this song!!!!

I totally agree with your poetic interpolation!

CarneVaca · #8 04-16-2003, 08:47 AM

Strand, you got me!

linsluv · #9 04-16-2003, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Vianna
This is the song they should have released as a single.

Wow, I totally disagree

... its a very nice song and all but I can't see it being played on the radio. I also think that would ruin it.

rhiannon1119 · #10 04-16-2003, 11:42 AM

Goodbye Baby is without a doubt one of the saddest songs I've ever heard... beautifully haunting. I've never heard Stevie's voice sound so vulnerable and truly heartbreaking. This is definitely one of the best songs on the album!

Michelle

Livia · #11 04-16-2003, 12:51 PM

It's just GORGEOUS! It's a really beautiful lullaby...

sara1998 · #12 04-16-2003, 05:20 PM

Stevie sounds like a Mother singing a lullaby to her child. That's the same hushed tone I used to use when Sara was a baby and I'd sing to her when putting her to sleep. The thought of this song makes me cry...

Maria

EnchantedStorms · #13 04-16-2003, 09:46 PM

The abortion reference is clear to me, too. I just don't see her, or anyone really, writing something *that* personal and with that much depth, about a story in a book. No matter how much that book may have touched you. Maybe that's just me, though....

To answer your question...Yes, I think it is the best track on this album. It's in a class all it's own, IMO. By that I mean, it can't really be compared to any of the rest of the songs on SYW. I love it, and it really gets to me. There are several of Stevie's songs that have always had that ability, but none moreso than this one.

~Angela~

sparky · #14 04-16-2003, 11:50 PM

I do like this song a lot. I always liked The Tower demo, and it is great to see it put down on album. As far as the origin of the song goes, I am convinced it was written for the proposed "Rhiannon" movie. There is a whole set of songs that are on the "Uncirculated Rumours" bootlegs that are in this vein. I also recall reading an interview where she talked about saying she had written 6 or 8 songs for the proposed film project. That was a million years ago... did anyone else read these interviews ?

CarneVaca · #15 04-17-2003, 08:54 AM

I should say it isn't my favorite song on the album. That honor goes to "Say Goodbye." "Red Rover," which I originally thought was beyond weird, has grown on me and is probably my second favorite. The haunting sounds on that song and the singing give me chills.

My favorite Stevie track on the album is "Everybody Finds Out." She sounds like she's having the most fun doing this song, certainly the most fun since "Stand Back."

I wish she had sung maybe one more song in the hushed tones that she used on "Goodbye Baby." That approach is perfect for her voice.