If I had my life to live over, I would never dream!

diamondsnake · #1 08-11-2004, 11:29 PM

I love this heartbreaking line on POTU but was shocked to find out this song was written when she was in her twenties. The line makes a lot more sense when it is written in your fifties (like I thought). How could Stevie think she didn't have her life to live over when she was so young and had basically her whole life ahead of her?

GateandGarden · #2 08-11-2004, 11:36 PM

I was wondering if anyone else besides me thought that! TISL was the first CD I got (solo or with FM) and I just assumed it was a song she had written for the album that year or something like that. When I found out she had written it when she was in her twenties, I thought that made less sense. But, I figure if you're feeling melodramatic enough, you can write lyrics like that. Besides, I have yet to encounter (in real life, not message boards, really) a person in his or her twenties who is immune to this delusion that makes people believe they're more experienced and mature than they really are. I'll include myself in that. I'm guilty of it. I've met so many people in their twenties who think they've lived long lives and know virtually everything, when they have so much to learn. The same thing goes for "Landslide," really. I read (somewhere) a comment she made recently about it and how she can't believe she wrote something like that at such a young age.

Hillary

Merf · #3 08-11-2004, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diamondsnake

I love this heartbreaking line on POTU but was shocked to find out this song was written when she was in her twenties. The line makes a lot more sense when it is written in your fifties (like I thought). How could Stevie think she didn't have her life to live over when she was so young and had basically her whole life ahead of her?

I think it's the whole "I built my life around you" thing with she and Lindsey-- not just as lovers but partners in their musical dreams and all that. I don't think you can understand what it's like to lose someone who means *that* much to you-- in all facets of your life-- unless you have lived it... which I have not yet so I can't begin to understand it.

I do agree that the entire song makes more sense now. It's one of my favorite songs of hers, ever.

GateandGarden · #4 08-12-2004, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Merf

I do agree that the entire song makes more sense now. It's one of my favorite songs of hers, ever.

Mine too!

Hillary

gypsygem81 · #5 08-12-2004, 04:17 AM

It is a very sad line, but she wrote it at a time when she was really very angry. She says in her TISL interviews that she had not recorded it before mainly because the lyrics were to harsh and she added some lyrics later to soften it a bit. She must have been very sad at the time to say somthing like that. She was probably just being a bit of a drama queen!

Love Gem

Kelly · #6 08-12-2004, 07:25 AM

One of my favorite Stevie quotes related to this topic is from the Ft Myers TISL show. She is introducing the song and says that she had written Planets after getting back from Sausalito. She goes on to say that she would always bring the song up to FM, as evidenced in the Rumours reissues. Stevie then says "everytime I would say, how about this? Lindsey would say, I DONT THINK SO"...then she goes on to talk about softening up the lyrics to make them ok to share. It made me smile because I can just picture Lindseys initial reaction to the original Planets lyrics, plus the line "you will never rule the way you ruled me". IMO, and I think she has even said herself, she was being a bit of a drama queen when she wrote the song. That is not to say she did not feel the overwhelming despair and sadness, but I do not think she really wanted to go back and never dream again in her life. Frankly, Stevie seems to thrive creatively when she is broken hearted and bitter.
I also like how she remarked during the TISL promotion that Lindsey really liked what John Shanks did with PoTU. Stevie seemed to really appreciate the compliment, as if his opinion of the song really mattered to her.

dissention · #7 08-12-2004, 08:41 AM

I always had a dilemma with that line.

She removed an entire portion of the song because she thought it was too bitter, but she left that line in there. To me, "Now I know/I was wrong to live for a dream/If I had my life to live over/I would never dream" is just as bitter as the "You will remember/But I will die a slow death/It's only an overture to something that was best" portion.

cliffdweller · #8 08-12-2004, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelly

Frankly, Stevie seems to thrive creatively when she is broken hearted and bitter.

Broken-hearted and angry yes. Bitter, no.

Livia · #9 08-12-2004, 09:00 AM

Quote:

"You will remember/But I will die a slow death/It's only an overture to something that was best" portion.

But that line IS in the remix!

POTU is one of my favorite SN songs EVAH!

gypsygem81 · #10 08-12-2004, 09:17 AM

I think it's quite telling that she actually went back and changed the lyrics, not just because she didn't want to hurt Lindsey's feelings, but it shows how she has moved on now and left all that pain behind. It's sweet.

Love Gem

sparky · #11 08-12-2004, 10:20 AM

I think the song is MUCH more powerful with all the lyrics in there. It does tend to ramble a bit, but I enjoy the passion of it. When you break up with someone you love desperately you feel all those extreme emotions. That's what it's all about. You hate them, love them, miss them, maybe wish they'd just "disappear into the air." That's the drama of youth and love. It's powerful and real, and I think editing it out is silly. But then, I prefer the infamous "No Light" piano demo, which is both angry and heartbreaking. One of the best demos ever.

The story of the song not making a FM album is funny, and quite revealing. First off, I don't think it fits FM. Frankly, they never let her be that writer in the band. They never let her have that voice. To this day, I don't think Smile At You fits on SYW because of that. They rejected Smile At You, Silver Springs, POTU, and a few others that were angry, aggressive, pointed songs. I think it was because that wasn't the role they wanted her to play in the band.
Plus, I don't think Lindsey wanted people to hear such things written and vocalized about him. Who knew he was such a delicate flower ?

As far as the wisdom of this song, and Landslide goes...there can be much wisdom in the simplicity of youth and idealism - even in youth and cynicism !
IMO there is much more clarity and prophetic simplicity in her early work. It seems the last couple of records are showing bits and pieces of that vision surfacing again. It's a good thing, Martha.

strandinthewind · #12 08-12-2004, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky

But then, I prefer the infamous "No Light" piano demo, which is both angry and heartbreaking. One of the best demos ever.

Yep - and IMO The Tower, which became Goodbye Baby, is right up there. Her voice and her delivery is so incredible to me in these. They just break my heart.

dissention · #13 08-12-2004, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky

But then, I prefer the infamous "No Light" piano demo, which is both angry and heartbreaking. One of the best demos ever.

To be honest, I like the version on the Rumours bonus disc the best. I don't know why because there's nothing particularly fantastic about it, but it just does it for me. Love her vocal and the rambling quality of the whole outtake.

cliffdweller · #14 08-12-2004, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sparky

They rejected Smile At You, Silver Springs, POTU, and a few others that were angry, aggressive, pointed songs. I think it was because that wasn't the role they wanted her to play in the band.

Interesting observation, it definitely has a ring of truth to it. Who made the ultimate decisions with regard to what songs made the albums? Mick right? What an ass....

strandinthewind · #15 08-12-2004, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cliffdweller

Interesting observation, it definitely has a ring of truth to it. Who made the ultimate decisions with regard to what songs made the albums? Mick right? What an ass....

I think that is true in studio recordings. But, on stage was another story. For example, look at Rhiannon. The studio version is light, breezy, and dreamy. The stage version up until about 94 and even some on the Enchanted Tour (which granted was not FM) were far from light, breezy, and dreamy

Interestingly, the ending of Silver Springs was Rhiannon esq. in both the live 70's and the 97 Dance performances. In the 70's they dumped it. In 97, they relied on it

Food for Thought!!!