"I've come to make you better, I've come to take you away"

diamondsnake · #1 12-01-2004, 07:47 PM

I just got Touched By an Angel and this song is so haunting and sad. Is it just me or is Stevie not human? I seriously think she has some power over people. That one line "I have come to make you better, I have come to take you away" gives me chills. It is actually a song that makes you feel okay about knowing that you're going to die one day. For me anyways it is like Stevie is an angel that died several years ago and is bringing her lover up to heaven when he dies. I don't know what I am talking about- I just love this song and would love to get everyone's thoughts on it.

Dreammms · #2 12-01-2004, 08:13 PM

i really love this song too. i listened to it when my uncle died nonstop and it helped me out a bit.

dissention · #3 12-01-2004, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diamondsnake

I just got Touched By an Angel and this song is so haunting and sad. Is it just me or is Stevie not human? I seriously think she has some power over people. That one line "I have come to make you better, I have come to take you away" gives me chills. It is actually a song that makes you feel okay about knowing that you're going to die one day. For me anyways it is like Stevie is an angel that died several years ago and is bringing her lover up to heaven when he dies. I don't know what I am talking about- I just love this song and would love to get everyone's thoughts on it.

I think it's safe to say that she's human. Angels wouldn't wear Frankenboks.

To my knowledge, the song is about AIDS.

diamondsnake · #4 12-01-2004, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissention

I think it's safe to say that she's human. Angels wouldn't wear Frankenboks.

To my knowledge, the song is about AIDS.

Where'd you get that from? Although illness did come to mind when I was listening to the song? Sort of like... don't fear death because you will be healed or something, I don't know. This song has really effected me- I am in love with it.

And she is an angel! The reboks are just there to throw us off.

ontheEdgeof17 · #5 12-01-2004, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissention

To my knowledge, the song is about AIDS.

Yeah. That came straight from the horse's mouth. It's on the Nicksfix that she said it was about AIDS victims.

Personally, I think most of the song is about the band getting back together for The Dance Reunion, with little bits about AIDS throughout the song, mostly the ending.

BTW....My second favorite soundtrack song after Battle of the Dragon.

dissention · #6 12-01-2004, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diamondsnake

Where'd you get that from?

Stevie herself.

dissention · #7 12-01-2004, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ontheEdgeof17

Personally, I think most of the song is about the band getting back together for The Dance Reunion, with little bits about AIDS throughout the song, mostly the ending.

What a combo.

jwd · #8 12-01-2004, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diamondsnake

I just got Touched By an Angel and this song is so haunting and sad. Is it just me or is Stevie not human? I seriously think she has some power over people. That one line "I have come to make you better, I have come to take you away" gives me chills. It is actually a song that makes you feel okay about knowing that you're going to die one day. For me anyways it is like Stevie is an angel that died several years ago and is bringing her lover up to heaven when he dies. I don't know what I am talking about- I just love this song and would love to get everyone's thoughts on it.

I'm with you. "Touched By An Angel" is a BEAUTIFUL song, and in particular the line you quoted. I'd be perfectly happy to "go", if a figure the likes of Stevie walked into my room uttering those words.

Oh and for those of you that may not know, you can find it on the "Sweet November" soundtrack.

diamondsnake · #9 12-01-2004, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwd

I'd be perfectly happy to "go", if a figure the likes of Stevie walked into my room uttering those words.

That is exactly what I was thinking, and I think the warm vocals on this track add to that effect.

skcin · #10 12-01-2004, 10:12 PM

I think it's a tiny bit about Robin too -

"...not standing in the shadows, I see her face, glowing in the darkness, in her own angel way..."

Like Robin's always still there with her.

Paula

strandinthewind · #11 12-01-2004, 11:24 PM

I think it is all about visiting a friend dying of AIDS in the hospital that she was angry with and when she saw him for the first time in a long time her pain was apparent but everyone was, given the gravity of the situation, friendly for the first time in years.

The person standing at the side of the stage is the Angel that Stevie thinks takes pain away when she sings a la Rhiannon and her birds.

The song is brilliant IMO.

The whole "life will once more be a celebration and that you will find the answers to your questions" reduced me to a ball of tears the first time heard it and still gets me weepy. My cousin and best friend from childhood died of AIDS related causes a year or two before this song came out. Needless to say, it home hard and still does

ontheEdgeof17 · #12 12-01-2004, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I think it is all about visiting a friend dying of AIDS in the hospital that she was angry with and when she saw him for the first time in a long time her pain was apparent but everyone was, given the gravity of the situation, friendly for the first time in years.

I've never seen it that way before. I can totally view the song in this way now.

strandinthewind · #13 12-01-2004, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ontheEdgeof17

I've never seen it that way before. I can totally view the song in this way now. :thumbsjob:

It just totally hit me that way - I guess because I had been there - although Kyle and I were not really angry but there was some anger there. I also readily admit it could me about the Mac.

But, the line, "the floor was wet and slippery - with the tracks of their tears" just sounds like the sterile linoleum floor of a hospital to me and they are all there crying for the dying friend

I also think that is the great thing about her songs - they can mean diff. things to people

Johnny Stew · #14 12-01-2004, 11:41 PM

Yes, Stevie has said that it was written for and about those who live with or have died from AIDS.
Stevie said she believes in what she refers to as the "passageway angel," who comes to us at the end of our lives to lead us to the other side, and that this angel is the "she" she's referring to in the song.

I really don't think it's about Fleetwood Mac's 1997 reunion, though I can see why others feel that way. My opinion is that her use of the phrase "standing at the side of the stage" is a metaphor... a rumination of sorts on the old saying that "all of life is a stage."

By the way, Stevie stated she was inspired to write it on the Fourth Annual Day Of Compassion, which was June 21st, 1996, and the U.S. Copyright site reflects this. The entry for the song states that it was created in 1996, and registered for copyright on August 14th, 1997.
The 'Dance' tour didn't start until September of that year, but, of course, the initial reunion was in May, when the 'Dance' concert video was filmed... so who knows.

Touched By An Angel
(written by Stevie Nicks)

And when she walked in the room
After so many years,
He looked up and saw her
He was standing at the crossroads
She was moving in slow motion
Everything was the same,
Except that everything was different

In that very moment, everyone was silent
And everyone was friendly,
For the first time in years,
Everyone was smiling
Though their pain was apparent
and the floor was wet and slippery
With the tracks of their tears

And then I see someone standing
At the side of the stage
Not standing in the shadows
I see her face
Glowing in the darkness
In her own angel way
"I have come to make you better,
I have come to take you away."

No one slipped and fell
This time, everyone was steady
Someone held my arm so that
I would not fall
For the first time, in a long time
Everyone was ready
No one said a word
And that simply said it all

And then I see someone standing
At the side of the stage
Not standing in the shadows
I see her face
Glowing in the darkness
In her own angel way
"I have come to make you better,
I have come...to take you away."
I’ll make you better

Walking through the room together
In suspended animation...
No one saw us go... no one said goodbye
But in my heart, I leave
Great expectations
That you will find the answers
to your questions
And that life will once more...
be a celebration...
and that you will be touched by an Angel
and that you will be touched by an Angel
and that you will be touched by an Angel

Celebration
Someday
Someday, Someday
Celebration

Johnny Stew · #15 12-01-2004, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I think it is all about visiting a friend dying of AIDS in the hospital that she was angry with and when she saw him for the first time in a long time her pain was apparent but everyone was, given the gravity of the situation, friendly for the first time in years.

That part always makes me think of how many families of AIDS patients I have heard of, who only reconciled with the patient on their death bed.

It's a sad thing that so many people can't get over their own issues until it's too late.

"Someday... someday...."