Stevie and Prince

[dissention]

Originally posted by SpyNote
I always thought this song was another chapter about Joe Walsh. He seemed like one volatile dude.

You'd be volatile, too, if you had his looks! j/k

[Johnny Stew]

Originally posted by SpyNote
I've only heard the song being about Prince through fans' interpretations, not from anything Stevie specifically said about the song. Was there an interview where she actually revealed the inspiration for writing Thousand Days? Was Prince actually the "greatest love" that became the "greatest pain"? I always thought this song was another chapter about Joe Walsh. He seemed like one volatile dude.

Hi Daniel....

This quote is from a terrific Billboard piece on Stevie's 'Enchanted' boxed-set, written by Timothy White, and published in the April 18th, 1998 issue:

"'Thousand Days' was written about my non-relationship with Prince," says Nicks, who had earlier composed "Stand Back" with him - although she notes he's never called her back "to set up his payment on 50%" of the latter. "Days" recounts an abortive, all-night '80s recording session with him at his Minneapolis home during a Fleetwood Mac tour, climaxing with Nicks "smoking my pot - he didn't agree with my lifestyle - and going to sleep on Prince's floor in his kitchen. I like him, but we were just so different there was no possible meeting ground."

I assume though... in typical Stevie fashion... that the song isn't entirely about Prince. We all know she has a habit of weaving more than one experience into a single song!

[sparky]

Originally posted by ricohv
The scene "kind of popped her brain"? I think too many years of substance abuse may have been the more likely cause. I mean, I beleive her to be intelligent and literate, but asometimes the way she expresses herself in interviews makes her sound like such a ding-dong! A sweet and loveable one of course!
Ricoh

Hmmm...I think this is actually a funny and verbally sophisticated response. To use the word "popped" twice like that is a great reinforcer of the point. It is the same as saying "When you punched her, it punched me in the guts." Basically, that "pop" wasn't working for me - blew the whole movie.

I like her use of language, and though sometimes lyrical things have made me turn my head like the RCA Victor dog, her quotes come off as completely genuine and clear. I get them ! Helps a lot to hear them though, too.

[SpyNote]

Originally posted by Johnny Stew
Hi Daniel....

This quote is from a terrific Billboard piece on Stevie's 'Enchanted' boxed-set, written by Timothy White, and published in the April 18th, 1998 issue:I assume though... in typical Stevie fashion... that the song isn't entirely about Prince. We all know she has a habit of weaving more than one experience into a single song!

I assume though... in typical Stevie fashion... that the song isn't entirely about Prince. We all know she has a habit of weaving more than one experience into a single song!

Ah... Thanks for posting that, Johnny. Yeah, I get the feeling that only the first part of the song is about him. The part from "Well, I can see the trouble" and on seems to be about something else completely. Once again, she keeps us guessing!

[strandinthewind]

Originally posted by Johnny Stew
I think the fact that Stevie often peppers her conversations with "hippie-isms," is why she sometimes comes off sounding flaky in interviews, despite her obvious intelligence.

ITA AND she often does not speak in complete sentences and/or refers to something previously discussed when the topic has moved on. All of these things work in a live conversation setting, but when put into prose, they make her sound a little ditzy - but that is our Stevie!!!

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by SpyNote
Ah... Thanks for posting that, Johnny. Yeah, I get the feeling that only the first part of the song is about him. The part from "Well, I can see the trouble" and on seems to be about something else completely. Once again, she keeps us guessing!

I agree that as usual the song is about more than one thing, but I take the I can see the trouble line to be a reference to Prince, as in, I can see the trouble if I were to let anything happen between us.

- Jake

[SpyNote]

Originally posted by darklinensuit
I agree that as usual the song is about more than one thing, but I take the I can see the trouble line to be a reference to Prince, as in, I can see the trouble if I were to let anything happen between us.

- Jake

I wonder if Whole Lotta Trouble is about Prince, too. Obviously, the two songs share similar themes and lyrics. She doesn't even hint at this in the Timespace liner notes, but rather focuses on the actual recording of the track with Mike Campbell (after playing with Petty and Dylan in Aus) as her inspiration.

[sulamith]

Wasn't there something else to this story about Prince's air conditioning being broken, and the only cool place Stevie could find to lie down was on the kitchen floor?

Also, she said that Prince came to pick her up after her show in his purple car, and she was still wearing her stage clothes....... I recall hearing her say that he flew down the road at 100 miles per hour and that if they were pulled over nobody would believe they were from this planet.

She also said that Prince would call her on the phone alot and he didn't like all the people that were always around her.

Is this right?

I really think the first verse of TD is referring to Prince, the part about him dragging her up the stairs and all, but then I am also sure it digresses into other people. I think in referecne to the phone calls, I am pretty sure "Oooh such words to her over the phone... just how many people are there with you now?" is something he said to her when attempting to have a "private" conversation with her. Wouldn't you just love to know what they did talk about? hee hee!

I think WLT is mostly about Lindsey leaving the band.

Prince also has a similar lyric in his song I Would Die 4 U. He says, "You're not my lover, You're not my friend, and this is something that you'll never comprehend". It's very similar to Stevie's "Well you're not my love, you're not my friend, and this something that we really don't discuss".

Maybe they did influence each other a bit.

Quiet now, songbird.

-Sharon

[darklinensuit]

Originally posted by sulamith
Prince also has a similar lyric in his song I Would Die 4 U. He says, "You're not my lover, You're not my friend, and this is something that you'll never comprehend". It's very similar to Stevie's "Well you're not my love, you're not my friend, and this something that we really don't discuss".

Maybe they did influence each other a bit.

Quiet now, songbird.

-Sharon

I agree, that doesn't look coincidental.
And this is more of a stretch, but I suppose her Sometimes I hear you crying line could be a reference to when doves cry.

- Jake

[SpyNote]

What's everyone's take on the whole Time/Life edition chant? That's my favorite part of the song, I'm curious to read what people think it's about and how it ties in with the rest of the song.

[gypsysara]

Interesting interviews posted.

Ive seen that photo of Stevie @ the Purple Rain premier. Her dress was horrid, LOL!

[ricohv]

*I knew when I said she sounded ditzy with the "it popped my brain" comment I would face some defensiveness! I do agree that she talks in this "stream of consciousness" sort of way that definately makes more sense if you are watching her. It also makes a whole lot more sense if she is not high. Yes, she is clever and often very cute when talking her talk. If you would read the dialogue of her on the Letterman show it wouldn't like much-when you see her, sort of shy, sort of nervous, sort of coy, it is definately endearing. Unfortunately the whole world does not want to understand the artistry that our lady speaks with creative licence to the English language and all that is practical. And I rare occasion I side with them. "He popped her face and that popped my brain" doesn't sound verbally sophisticated to me (like so many of her other quotes), it just sounds weird! For some reason Stevie saying "brain" there sounds ackward, like how hearing her sing "chimpanzee" in Jane just felt weird. It wouldn't seem as ackward if she said something like "when he popped her in the head it popped me in my head". But really, it was just a thought, no big deal.
ENOUGH WITH THE BASH:
*I agree that the dress she wore to the Purple Rain premeire was the ugliest thing I have ever seen her in-if she was gonna wear Minnie Pearls' dress she should've at least wore the hat with the price tag so we'd at least get the joke!
OOPS, ENOUGH WITH THE BASH, PT.II:
In regards to the Time/Life edition thing: I think Joe Walsh was "the greatest love that became the greatest pain" and I think the Time/Life edition thing is a reference to him. I'm guessing that because he is thanked at the end of the poem on the back of RAL: And I like some kind of Time/Life edition.....
It's not an obvious reference, but you know how Stevie makes "a connection" of two things in her world and then over the years will continue to connect them *(e.g. nightbird and death, Stand Back and black shawl with silver squares). If not Joe then perhaps herself, since she has already stated that she is "like some kind of Time/Life edition".
Now that I think about it I can't really remember how that reference is made in Thousand Days as I never listen to it, considering it is hands down my least favorite Stevie song of all time!
However I did have that hunch about the Time/Life thing, but I don't have a hunch as to how she would blend Joe Walsh into her song about Prince, unless her underlying theme was "homely guys that lust for me". Nope, that's not it, there's no "great dark wing" in the song.....
Ricoh

[golden braid]

Originally posted by gypsysara

Ive seen that photo of Stevie @ the Purple Rain premier. Her dress was horrid, LOL!

Do you have a picture? I would love to see it.

[David]

Originally posted by sulamith
Also, she said that Prince came to pick her up after her show in his purple car, and she was still wearing her stage clothes....... I recall hearing her say that he flew down the road at 100 miles per hour and that if they were pulled over nobody would believe they were from this planet.

Yep, that's what she told Mark & Brian in 1994. They would have had to be doing 120 to 150 mph at least to be able to get from New York (where Fleetwood Mac was performing) to Minneapolis, Minnesota (where Prince lived) & back again.

something about that silly story just doesn't ring true -- it doesn't seem possible. I bet that if you asked Prince to sum up what happened that day, you'd get a wholly different answer.

[dissention]

Originally posted by David
something about that silly story just doesn't ring true -- it doesn't seem possible. I bet that if you asked Prince to sum up what happened that day, you'd get a wholly different answer.

A lot of her stories seem bogus, IMO. Especially that one. You're absolutely right; it's pretty much impossible to get from NY to Minneapolis in that stretch of time. And Stevie doesn't strike me as a gal that would actually lay down on a bare kitchen floor, but that's just me.