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  #1  
Old 05-10-2003, 06:09 PM
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Default Interpretation: COME

Come

Think of me, sweet darling, when everything's going bad.
Think of me, sweet darling, everytime you're feeling sad.
Thnk of me, sweet darling, everytime you don't come...
Can you feel the fever?

Think of me, sweet darling, everytime things get rough.
Think of me, sweet darling, when the best just isn't enough.
Think of me, sweet darling, everytime you don't come...
Can you feel the fever?

'Cause nobody else is doing it.
Nobody else is doing it, no, no.
Thought that our harmony was the new harmony,
Lord, it was a little too strange...
And the band played on.

I said I was going to put God away ... she's been here a while.
Living in the guest room ... I guess she goes in style.
I said I was going to put God away, but I just can't let her go...
Can you feel the fever?

Now I lay me down to sleep in this enemy bed.
Tomorrow morning I will wake up hurting from the things we've said.
One thing leads to another, but I guess you know about that...
Can you feel the fever?

'Cause nobody else is doing it.
Nobody else is doing it, no, no.
Thought that our harmony was the new harmony,
Lord, it was a little too strange...
And the band played on.
'Cause nobody else is doing it.
Nobody else is doing it, no, no.
Thought that our harmony was the new harmony,
Lord, it was a little too strange...
And the band played on.

(outro)

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Now's the chance for you to add your interpretation of the lyrics and music. Everybody's opinions will be used.
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  #2  
Old 05-10-2003, 06:12 PM
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Allow me to get the ball rolling ...





If you have a non-Heche theory for this song, speak now or forever hold your peace!
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  #3  
Old 05-11-2003, 12:30 AM
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Here are some focus questions you might like to hazard guesses at:


Who is sweet darling?

Is 'God' a reference to the 'sweet darling', or God him/herself?

What is nobody else doing?

What was the new harmony that was a little too strange which Lindsey and 'sweet darling' shared?

What does fever connote to you?

How does Lindsey feel for 'sweet darling'?
~ mocking?
~ yearning for?
~ angry?
~ jealous?
~ other

What do you think Lindsey was trying to convey with the loud volume change in the music between verse and chorus?
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  #4  
Old 05-14-2003, 11:09 AM
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Well, since this IS about Anne Heche per Lindsey, I would say that the lyrics speak for themselves, but everyone feel free to post what they think.

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Old 05-15-2003, 01:38 AM
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  #5  
Old 05-15-2003, 01:07 PM
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According to a San Diego Union Tribune article earlier this Spring, Lindsey admitted that this song is "vicious," but also he says he thinks it's funny, which tells me it's not meant to be taken entirely seriously. What I suspect he means by that is that the anger and taunting in it is intended to be seen as so overblown/over-the-top that it becomes a bit of a parody of the vindictiveness one can feel in the immediate aftermath of a relationship gone sour (and ended by the other person).

Out of pride, and because you don't want to believe that you wasted feelings on someone who didn't appreciate it or was just using you, you deny that real emotion existed. You reduce the relationship to nothing but the physical...you imagine yourself to know all of her secrets and turn-ons...and you hope she's never satisfied ever again!

It's not a vindictiveness that can burn at great intensity for very long, but it serves the purpose of blasting away some of the flaming hard feelings that exist initially...

Think of me, sweet darling, when everything's going bad.
Think of me, sweet darling, everytime you're feeling sad.
Thnk of me, sweet darling, everytime you don't come...
Can you feel the fever?


The fever is desire. And as with a lot of Lindsey's songs, he doesn't let himself (or the narrator) off the hook either:

I said I was going to put God away ... she's been here a while.
Living in the guest room ... I guess she goes in style.
I said I was going to put God away, but I just can't let her go...
Can you feel the fever?


Maybe he knows that there were signs the relationship was faltering, but he turned a blind eye because he succumbs to "the fever" too. "Living in the guest room...I guess she goes in style" suggests to me that she was a guest in his home but that she was not at home there. She took advantage of what he offered to her but there was not a full commitment to a relationship from her.

What/who is God? I have a few theories:

1) He might be suggesting that he knew he was throwing some better judgment out the window ("put God away") in order to keep this relationship for the wrong reasons.

2) He might be suggesting that "she" is God...he let her (someone he shouldn't have trusted so much) affect him and some of his decisions too much.

2) He might be suggesting that sex was a ruler of sorts (God..oh God...oh God!) and it clouded some decisions.

And here is the full admission at the moment he knew that this was a relationship doomed. The "fever" kept it alive longer than it should have:

Now I lay me down to sleep in this enemy bed.
Tomorrow morning I will wake up hurting from the things we've said.
One thing leads to another, but I guess you know about that...
Can you feel the fever?


In the chorus, he's back to that ferocious stance where he begins the song. I'm not sure if he's taunting her or chastizing himself (or both) for having ever thought that this relationship was something more than it turned out to be ("our harmony was the new harmony"). But it ultimately crashed and burned. Life goes on.

'Cause nobody else is doing it.
Nobody else is doing it, no, no.
Thought that our harmony was the new harmony,
Lord, it was a little too strange...
And the band played on.


The tune was inspired by a riff from bandmate Neale Heywood on the Cradle tour. He says Anne Heche, a companion during 1993, was an inspiration for the lyrics, though he hasn't elaborated upon that at all. I think he accepts his part in this, but he's getting in his licks because he's certainly not going down alone for this.
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Last edited by Les; 05-15-2003 at 01:21 PM..
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  #6  
Old 05-16-2003, 01:01 AM
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Default Re: Interpretation: COME

Hi all,

Well, I'm going to take Lindsey's word for it when he says it's about Anne Heche. All of the lyrics really sound, to me, just like a purging of feelings that someone might have about the person he has had a break up with, especially if they are in a relationship with another person. Basically it is "oh well, you lose...you could have it great if you were still with me...just think about that when you're with them...blahblahblah." If we do take Lindsey's word that the song is about Anne Heche, then I would say that you could read even MORE bitterness into those words, seeing as she was in a lesbian relationship for quite awhile; Lindsey could have been saying, in essence, that she would not be able to be satisfied sexually or otherwise by a woman. Who knows?

If we continue with the line of thinking that the song is indeed about Ms. Heche, I think maybe we can get a bit of insight into this verse that people are having trouble deciphering the underlying meaning of:

I said I was going to put God away ... she's been here a while.
Living in the guest room ... I guess she goes in style.
I said I was going to put God away, but I just can't let her go...
Can you feel the fever?


Here is a quote from an article/interview I found on Rolling Stone's website:
"Heche said she had been "insane" when she fell in and out of love with Ellen DeGeneres and, as recently as last year, Heche believed she was God in what turned out to be a prelude to a psychotic breakdown. "

I'm thinking that he is tongue-in-cheekingly referring to Anne as "God" since that is what she insanely thought of herself as for awhile. Maybe when he says he was "going to put God away" etc, he means he was working on trying to forget her, get rid of memories of her since she had gone, but it was proving difficult to do so. The difficulty could have been exacerbated by the fact that she had become so high profile in Hollywood due to her relationship with Ellen, and therefore everywhere he turned there were reminders of her, with pictures, movies she was in, news articles, tv appearances, etc.

In case anyone's interested, I'm going to either post or link to the rest of the RS article under the Miranda interp thread, because having read the article, I'm convinced that Miranda could very well be about Anne Heche too.

Thoughts???

Lori
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  #7  
Old 05-17-2003, 10:06 PM
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This is a very unMac song.

There are two kinds of bands: those that rely primarily on musicianship and teamwork (eg The Beatles), and those that rely on virtuosity and gimmicks (eg Led Zeppelin).

Fleetwoood Mac has always been a Beatles-type band, and Lindsey has generally played in George Harrison mode: as a team member. But this has not entirely satisfied his ambition.

From time to time, he likes to think of himself as a Hendrix, a Page or a Clapton. Hence this song. Christine would never have allowed it!
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  #8  
Old 05-17-2003, 10:13 PM
Tim Robinson Tim Robinson is offline
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Rodeo asks:
Quote:
How does Lindsey feel for 'sweet darling'?
~ mocking?
~ yearning for?
~ angry?
~ jealous?
Answer: all of the above!
This is how he has always felt about all his women in all of his songs, going back to "Monday Morning".

And its how he felt about the band, too.
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  #9  
Old 05-18-2003, 01:14 PM
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Thanks guys for all your feedback and input into this interpretation of such an awesome song. I'm just letting you know that I'm not getting involved in the interp here as I want you to tell me what you think - and as it is you mostly agree with me, and obvciously go far beyond what I had ever interpreted. I Look forward to assembling all your thoughts into something of a semblance of an interpretation.

Intepret on!
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  #10  
Old 05-24-2003, 01:37 PM
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Song isn't about Stevie...it is about Anee Heche like Lindsey said himself.
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  #11  
Old 05-31-2003, 11:41 AM
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Wow, it had never occured to me that the song may be about Stevie, but i have to say glitter, you put up a good argument. Also, it may go a fair way to explaining why Stevie didn't want to be involved in the song (I believe she refused to sing backing vocals on it and didn't want it on the album in the first place) if she suspected (or knew?!) that it was about her.

Still the lyrics don't give a lot away - it really could be about either of them so if he wanted to say it was about the one to cover up the fact that it was actually about the other, it would be easy for him to do so. Also, Lindsey isn't very likely to come out and admit that the song is about Stevie because it would most likely promptly be the end of their reunion if Stevie found out! So if it was about Stevie, Lindsey has every reason to say that it wasn't.

On the other hand, I'm still yet to be convinced that it isn't about Anne Heche. The quote that Lori found about Anne Heche thinking she was God, would seem to explain nicely the reference to God, which was apparently, the only discrepancy.

If Lindsey says it's about her, and the shoe fits and the lyrics make sense, I would be inclined to believe that. It is good to hear such an original interpretation though. Thanks Glitter, your interpretation made a very interesting read.

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  #12  
Old 06-10-2003, 08:35 AM
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Default Here you go

ComeLyrics and Music by Lindsey Buckingham
Interpretation participated in by Les, Lori, Tim, GlitterFades, Gem and Joe.
Thanks to the contributions of all the Ledgies who particpated in BlueGrass’ “Come is about Anne Heche” thread on the Rumours board.


The reconfigured Fleetwood Mac frontline of Buckingham and Nicks made headlines in 2003 with Say You Will. The new studio CD met with mixed reactions – but reactions nonetheless, mostly due to the genre-bending Lindsey Buckingham tracks orginally slated for his shelved solo CD, Gift of Screws. A standout among these unique songs is Come. This loud, screaming punk track is Lindsey at his most vicious. As Tim says: “This is a very unMac song.” Yet, by seizing the sensation of bitter ferocity and taking it over the top, Lindsey achieves a kind of lampoon of post-relationship resentment. (ARTICLE)

Think of me, sweet darling…

Lindsey has admitted that he wrote this song about Anne Heche, his girlfriend around 1993 (ARTICLE).

…when everything's going bad.
Think of me, sweet darling, everytime you're feeling sad.
Think of me, sweet darling, everytime you don't come...

Lindsey ruminates that since Anne broke up with him, there will be certain repeated times that things will go bad for her, she will feel sad, and she won’t come. Given the context, and the hypno-suggestive ‘cubism’ of the music in the verse, it is difficult to interpret anything other than that Lindsey is making a direct reference to sex, and implies that Anne will probably not achieve the same level of sexual and emotional satisfaction in her new relationship as she did when she was with Lindsey. Beyond this, it could be read into the lyrics that Lindsey is referring specifically to the lesbian relationship Anne went on to pursue. Is Lindsey, or at least the exaggeratedly petulant character he is playing, insinuating that Anne will not get from her new lifestyle what she got from the heterosexual one with Lindsey?

Can you feel the fever?

Lindsey taunts the one that got away, by implying that she still might need what he can give her, sexually and emotionally. Is Lindsey playing the role of a narrow-minded heterosexual who believes only a man can truly ignite a woman’s fire? Either way, the outrageous and callous impudence of the lyrics conjure a sort of immaturity. After the break-up, his power in the relationship was displaced, and so the immature character he portrays is holding something over Anne to make himself feel powerful again.

'Cause nobody else is doing it.
Nobody else is doing it, no, no.

The music shifts from understated seduction into punk-rock overdrive. His voice shrieks like a child in a tantrum. These are the most cryptic words of the song. What is nobody else doing? On one level you might safely interpret that he is just screaming his head off – perhaps for the parody of a man that Lindsey plays, shouting angry nonsense eases the pain. But if we want to interpret meaning into these phrases, we must look to the next lines.

Thought that our harmony was the new harmony,
Lord, it was a little too strange...

Lindsey and Anne had a ‘strange harmony’, that nobody else had. They were doing things nobody else were doing. A mind enamoured with love and lust is veiled from the rigours of reason, and so every high seems like the highest high; the only high. Lindsey and Anne were together for barely a year – their relationship was clearly as passionate and intense as it was whirlwind and abrupt. But such extremes of passion, and perhaps a failure to gel on a more personal or spritual level with Anne, did not sit well with Lindsey. It was a little too strange.

And the band played on.

And so he has ratonalised himself out of fault, out of pain, and declares himself satisfied with the break-up. The band – a metaphor symbolizing his livelihood with more accuracy than anyone else’s – will play on. If she doesn’t want what he can give her, fine. She was too intense anyway – who needs her. Someone more suitable will no doubt come along to ‘play with his band’.

I said I was going to put God away…

Here the music and vocal return to the eerie ‘voices in the head’ that constitute each verse. Lori reminds us that at some point down the track after she broke up woth Lindsey, Anne claimed she was God, or something to that effect. Suggesting that he can ‘put her away’ signifies that they enjoyed a very objectified, passionate relationship. Were they mere companions of benefit?

... she's been here a while.
Living in the guest room ... I guess she goes in style.

Sarcastic Lindsey comments that their relationship was so superficial, she even stayed in the guest room. Maybe this is also a reference to the room in his mind that he reserves for people he doesn’t really and truly love – she is just another girlfriend. Nothing close to his heart. But maybe she is the one who conducts the relationship in this way, who sets up these emotional barriers. Is that the reason for his petulance?

I said I was going to put God away, but I just can't let her go...
Can you feel the fever?

Now he suggests in a final plea, that as little as he likes maintaining this strange relationship, or pehaps as little as he likes playing by her rules, he cannot turn away from her seductive charms. This yearnful phrase evokes the nature of the hypnotic, sensual verse music. It seems that when all’s said on the matter, Lindsey embraced his freedom from this relationship as much as he was compelled to want its continuance.

Now I lay me down to sleep in this enemy bed.

Is Lindsey merely reminiscing of what the relationship was like, or has he in fact found himself back with Anne? He knows that she is an ‘enemy’ to his esteem – but is that enough to stop the cycle of passion?

Tomorrow morning I will wake up hurting from the things we've said.

After the night of fierce love, Lindsey will be hurt emotionally from the shallow ‘somethings’ whispered and screamed. Perhaps this is a Shakesperean-class allusion to the fact that he may be physically hurting from the ‘adult conversation’ that has taken place.

One thing leads to another, but I guess you know about that...
Can you feel the fever?

Lindsey has participated in this ‘romance’, but he’s willing to share the blame for this vicious cycle (that’s right… cycle) of satiating the feverent desires of love.



If you guys have any suggestions let me know, otherwise I'll wait for Lauren to do her thing and get it posted. Thanks for all your input!
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Last edited by DownOnRodeo; 06-10-2003 at 08:16 PM..
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  #13  
Old 09-23-2003, 09:54 PM
Cammie Cammie is offline
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Talking Come... (If this is too late...delete!)

IMHO...Lindsey is writing sooo bitterly
about ALL His Girlfriends!!! Starting with...
his Highschool Sweetheart Sally to Stevie
who took him away to LA... to Carol Ann
(we feel he loved CA very much!) then go
on to Cheri...who was with him 12 years
in between many girls... such as Anne!

The only women he showed on his BTM...
are Sally~Stevie~Carol Ann and His Wife!
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Old 01-24-2005, 03:21 PM
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Those lyrics are beautiful!
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  #15  
Old 02-05-2005, 07:36 PM
Gabrielle Gabrielle is offline
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Default Come

I think Come is about any woman that has ever spurned Lindsey, including Anne, but not excluding others. I think Lindsey has a lot of pride when a woman has dissed him and this song was a "lighthearted", but also serious way of expressing his frustration and his sexual prowess. I think he takes a lot of pride in that, too.

Line by line, here's what I think:

"Think of me, sweet darling, when everything's going bad.
Think of me, sweet darling, everytime you're feeling sad.
Thnk of me, sweet darling, everytime you don't come..."
(and)
"Think of me, sweet darling, everytime things get rough.
Think of me, sweet darling, when the best just isn't enough.
Think of me, sweet darling, everytime you don't come..."


I think these lines are particularly spiteful. "Think of me when your life is sucking, you're sexually dissatisfied, nothing you do is good enough and you'll see how good you had it with me." "Sweet darling" is sarcastic.

"Can you feel the fever?"

I think this is partially sexual, but also another way of him saying "don't you miss me?" I think "the fever" could also be referring to the pain or the angst of the situation.

"'Cause nobody else is doing it.
Nobody else is doing it, no, no."


These two lines are pretty obvious I think. "Nobody else is doing it for you, sexually and otherwise."

"Thought that our harmony was the new harmony"

"I thought what we had was the best and would last."

"Lord, it was a little too strange..."

"but it was just strange and surreal."

"And the band played on."

"My life goes on, cest la vie and my music continues, that is my life." I know Lindsey must have taken a lot of solace in his career, especially after bad relationships ended.

"I said I was going to put God away ... she's been here a while."

I think God refers to the woman or women in question. "I said I was going to put you away (let you go)". Apparently, he holds the women he's been with in high regard, referring to them as "God."

"Living in the guest room ... I guess she goes in style."

The relationship was long over (living in the guest room) before she ended it or it ended.

"I said I was going to put God away, but I just can't let her go..."

Poor Lindsey just couldn't let go of another relationship. That only left her to do it, which made him write this song.

"Can you feel the fever?"

I think this time he says it to her and to himself. I really think the meaning of "the fever" is "the sting" of the relationship going sour.

"Now I lay me down to sleep in this enemy bed.
Tomorrow morning I will wake up hurting from the things we've said."


Again, the relationship is bad (enemy bed, hurting things we've said).

"One thing leads to another, but I guess you know about that..."

This is another spiteful line. She's either cheated and/or the anger, the fighting, etc., led to their breakup.

"Can you feel the fever?"

Again, I think he says this to her and to himself with "the fever" meaning the pain or angst.

So to sum up, I think this might have been partially written about Anne Heche, but also about any woman who has hurt him in some way, not even just a breakup. Just hurt in general. I think this was his anthem to all the broken relationships in his life so if he said it was about Anne, he wouldn't have been lying or covering up. It was a sin of omission to leave out "and every other woman I've ever been with." I think Lindsey has led a tormented love life from day one and he finally wrote something in the heat of anger and frustration lumping every woman he's ever been with into one cruel, but angst-filled declaration.
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