Trouble in Shangri-La....

catinthedark · #1 07-11-2005, 11:31 PM

So all this talk about Shangri La and whether it's a metaphor or a simile or even poetry got me wondering...

What does everyone really think the album title "Trouble in Shangri La" means? Is it:

A) What Stevie says? All about achieving greatness and then losing it all? Or... is she being her oh-so-often-not-quite-precise self, and it really more specifically refers to...

B) The relationship she wrote about in so many of the songs on this highly thematic album? Is there trouble in that Shangri La? Is there trouble in the Shangri La of the subject so many of the TISL songs refer to? Or is it...

C) Something completely different, in your humble opinion?

Just curious what y'all think.

dissention · #2 07-11-2005, 11:40 PM

I think it's mostly about her, her career, and her pampered lifestyle mostly, with some of her lousy relationships thrown in there to taste.

I try not to think about what her songs mean to her or what they're about because I don't really care. I just want to hear them and attach my own meaning to them. If I dwelled on her writing it about her rock star life, I wouldn't enjoy it as much. Thankfully it isn't in your face like that swill Ghosts and That Made Me Stronger.

diamondsnake · #3 07-11-2005, 11:45 PM

I think it means that it looks like Stevie has it all. A big house, adoring fans, etc. but she really doesn't have the one thing she really wants- love. Almost all the songs are about love that has been lost. The last song is heartbreaking really...

Love changes in the flash of an eye, it leaves people burning by the side of the road.

I Still Live alone!!!

Love is... watching you go.

I remember him, he was very young.

I miss you now, I have so many questions about love...

It's not enough that you say you love me!

I didn't come all the way here just to watch you walk out that door.

Everyday I need you, every way I breathe you!

She wants someone to love and all the money and houses and fans in the world will never change that and it may seem like she is living the American Dream but money can't buy love.

amber · #4 07-11-2005, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissention

I think it's mostly about her, her career, and her pampered lifestyle mostly, with some of her lousy relationships thrown in there to taste.
.

Probably a safe bet. It's probably her thinking she was down at some point, and blah Stevie, all about Stevie, more about Stevie, etc. about Stevie.
And then she'll say it's about this other stuff, which I'm sure she cares and thinks about, but really, it's about her.

dissention · #5 07-11-2005, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amber

Probably a safe bet. It's probably her thinking she was down at some point, and blah Stevie, all about Stevie, more about Stevie, etc. about Stevie.
And then she'll say it's about this other stuff, which I'm sure she cares and thinks about, but really, it's about her.

Yup.

Hawkeye · #6 07-11-2005, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissention

Thankfully it isn't in your face like that swill Ghosts and That Made Me Stronger

That Made Me Stronger is 100 percent in your face only Stevie could relate to that song, I agree. But I think Ghosts is quite universal. What about it, do you find in your face?

dissention · #7 07-11-2005, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

That Made Me Stronger is 100 percent in your face only Stevie could relate to that song, I agree. But I think Ghosts is quite universal. What about it, do you find in your face?

To feel the empty spaces she's feeling
She depends on her music like a husband
And she knows it's no good to fall in love again...
One day they were lovers...one day they were friends
There was nothing else to say

Puuuuuuuuuuke.

diamondsnake · #8 07-11-2005, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

That Made Me Stronger is 100 percent in your face only Stevie could relate to that song, I agree. But I think Ghosts is quite universal. What about it, do you find in your face?

Probably the "She depends on her music like a husband". I love that line myself.

GypsyNomad · #9 07-11-2005, 11:55 PM

I would have to go with:

Quote:

Originally Posted by catinthedark

A) What Stevie says? All about achieving greatness and then losing it all? Or... is she being her oh-so-often-not-quite-precise self, and it really more specifically refers to...

I believe "Trouble in Shangri La" means something like paradise lost.... I do think that a relationship may also tie into this song as well. Maybe it was also based on those years after rehab, tranquilizers, and that slump in her career for a few years in the mid-90s

She was on top of the world, and then maybe she thought she was losing everything around her..... I do remember her saying that this album took 7 years to make, so I'm sure she wrote some of these songs during that time frame.

~Carei

Hawkeye · #10 07-11-2005, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissention

To feel the empty spaces she's feeling
She depends on her music like a husband
And she knows it's no good to fall in love again...
One day they were lovers...one day they were friends
There was nothing else to say

Puuuuuuuuuuke.

well I'd say the first 2 minutes of the song is fine. So if you listen to the first 2 minutes and then press skip, the problem is solved

Thats what I do.

diamondsnake · #11 07-11-2005, 11:57 PM

I think a lot of people can relate to "one day they were lovers, one day they were friends, there was nothing else to say"

amber · #12 07-11-2005, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dissention

To feel the empty spaces she's feeling
She depends on her music like a husband
And she knows it's no good to fall in love again...
One day they were lovers...one day they were friends
There was nothing else to say

Puuuuuuuuuuke.

But what about -
"It's just the ghost of what you want to be
And the ghost of the past that you live in

It's just the ghost of what you really want
And it's the ghost of the past that you live in
And it's the ghost of the future you are frightened of"

I think those lyrics are extremely relatable, and I also think they are kind of brill. I like that song a lot for those words. Well, and the tune, but...

dissention · #13 07-11-2005, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

well I'd say the first 2 minutes of the song is fine. So if you listen to the first 2 minutes and then press skip, the problem is solved

Thats what I do.

That would work a little if I thought it was a decent song to begin with. Unfortunately, I don't. Those lyrics and the way they're sung do NOT fit the music. They go together like milk and orange juice. And the whole song is just too needy and whiney for me, much like If You Ever Did Believe.

Hawkeye · #14 07-12-2005, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amber

But what about -
"It's just the ghost of what you want to be
And the ghost of the past that you live in

It's just the ghost of what you really want
And it's the ghost of the past that you live in
And it's the ghost of the future you are frightened of"

I think those lyrics are extremely relatable, and I also think they are kind of brill. I like that song a lot for those words. Well, and the tune, but...

yeah the chourus of thats song is absolutely some of Stevie's most brilliant lyrics ever. I guess this is a perfect example of one of Stevie's two faced half brilliant half bad songs. She doesnt have many. Most are either clearly great or clearly horrid.

amber · #15 07-12-2005, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

yeah the chourus of thats song is absolutely some of Stevie's most brilliant lyrics ever. I guess this is a perfect example of one of Stevie's two faced half brilliant half bad songs. She doesnt have many. Most are either clearly great or clearly horrid.

Actually, I think most songs are half bad, half brill, but I like them anyways. But I can see why you would say that.