Song Notes and Lyrics
Included below are the lyrics to the previously unreleased songs and Stevie's
song notes that were included in the liner notes for the album
"These are the moments -
that I live for..."
Sometimes It's A Bitch
Well I've run through rainbows and castles of candy
I cried a river of tears from the pain
I try to dance with what life has to hand me
My partner's been pleasure, my partner's been pain
There are days when I swear I could fly like an eagle
And dark desperate hours that nobody sees
My arms stretched triumphant on top of the mountain
My head in my hands, down on my knees
Sometimes it's a bitch, sometimes it's a breeze
Sometimes love's blind, and sometimes it sees
Sometimes it's roses, and, sometimes it's weeds
Sometimes it's a bitch, sometimes it's a breeze
I've reached in darkness and come out with treasure
I've laid down with love and I woke up with lies
What's it all worth only the heart can measure
It's not what's in the mirror, but what's left inside
Sometimes it's a bitch, sometimes it's a breeze
Sometimes love's blind, and sometimes it sees
Sometimes it's roses, and, sometimes it's weeds
Sometimes it's a bitch, sometimes it's a breeze
You gotta take it as it comes
Sometimes it don't come easy
I've run through rainbows and castles of candy
And I've cried a river of tears from the pain
I tried to dance with what life had to hand me
And if I could, I'd do it all over again
Sometimes it's a bitch, sometimes it's a breeze
Sometimes love's blind, and sometimes it sees
Sometimes it's roses, and, sometimes it's weeds
Sometimes it's a bitch, sometimes it's a breeze
Sometimes the picture just ain't what it seems
You get what you want, but it's not what you need
Sometimes it's a bitch, sometimes, it's a breeze
Well it's a breeze, it's a breeze, it's a breeze
Inspired by Jon Bon Jovi
When I first heard this song, I really did not quite understand what Jon was trying to say... but over the two weeks that we sang it together (at my mike), I started to realize that Jon, without knowing it, had sort of taken a time machine back eighteen years and watched my life, the good parts... and the bad. It was not a love song, which of course, I had expected it to be; it was much more than that... to me. Bon Jovi had picked up on the fact, before meeting me, that there was no way he could know what I had lived through... without having lived through it with me... so he dreamed...
He dreamed about what the notorious Stevie Nicks had been like... and what it had all done to her... the indulgences, the lifestyle. I felt that if he knew nothing else about me... he knew I had a strong instinct to survive.
Someday, maybe all the people who did not go through this with us will understand; that considering the generation we come from... we are very lucky to be alive...
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Love's A Hard Game To Play
Wake up my sweet child
There's something I've got to say to you tonight
It's time you took a look at me
Cause there's so much more to me
Than meets the eye
Well, there's more to love than makin' time
The harder you look the more you'll find
It's never easy no matter what they say
Love's a hard game to play
The heart's the price you pay
Love's a hard game to play
No matter what they say
Win or lose, no matter what they say
Love's a hard game to play
The problem here is not my fear
The trouble is you can't convince yourself
For tonight, let's lose the past
Make love last
Put our worries up on the shelf
We've been through thick and thin, and back again
And we can endure love's sweet pain
Remember, starting the fire is easy
The hardest part is learning how to keep the flame
Love's like walking a real fine line
You get too close and you'll go blind
Let go too long and it will all drift away
Just when I feel like I'm losin' you
I hear them voices call
They say it's better to have lost at love
Than never to have loved at all
Lose or win, stand or fall
Well, there's more to love than makin' time
The harder you look, the more you'll find
It's never easy, no matter what they say
Inspired by Bret Michaels
This song was brought to me barely two weeks ago by a most extraordinary young man. One of those men who has everything... beauty, sensitivity, warmth, and a love for life that I had not seen in a long time. I recorded his song, singing it for him to the best of my ability... hoping that the people would love the song as much as we loved doing it. A new friend, in this business, who asks for nothing but for me to be happy, is a very rare thing. I hope he will remain my friend for a long time, because finding someone like him seldom happens in one's lifetime. But when it does... there is nothing like it. He was happy because I believed in him. And he has brought something back to me that I thought I had lost... my laughter..."
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Desert Angel
I was born in the desert
So I know how it feels there...
Well look up... it's a shooting star
But it's as black as night... no stars
Well this is the first thing,
That I've written
Since I wrote about freedom...
And then the wall came down
Well we thought it was a great, ...beginning
People were free to cross the line
But then something happened... in the desert
Something broke the stars... into pieces
Well I live below... a great red mountain
In the shape of a great huge beast
In a place the indians call... Paradise Valley
Well this has always been my sanctuary
I send that to you... too
There on the other side of the world
In the desert...
And we are the guardians
No black clouds... just the faces of you
So where is my father,
Where has he gone
Where is my husband
Where is my son
Where is my father
Where has he gone
What is it that happened here,
Is it real... This war...
This can't be happening
Ooh well I need to see you
In your... far away war
And you should know... how much we love you
They call us here, Operation Desert Angel...
They call us here, Operation Desert Angel...
In waiting... Operation Desert Shield
Operation Desert Storm... Operation Desert Angel
Written for all the men and women in "Operation Desert Storm
Inspired by Paradise Valley, my desert... and the rain
I returned to Phoenix late last night for a few days... today is May 28th. I have been in Los Angeles since March 3rd, but I was here from December 23rd for a little over two months–the two months the Persian Gulf war began and ended. My friend who takes care of my fan mail, Ginny, began calling me at the end of December telling me that she had already sent a lot of tapes, cd's and autographed pictures for these guys who were writing to me from the Gulf. Then at the beginning of January, Ginny suggested I write these people a serious letter about how I was feeling about their participation in the Gulf War. Of course, I had been watching nothing else on TV except CNN, and was totally overwhelmed that they cared about what I thought. So the days went slowly by, all of us thinking that it would never happen, as January 15 loomed ahead of us. So I thought about this letter I would write every day for fourteen days. While all this was going on, there was something the city was doing called "Operation Desert Angel." It meant that you could go down to the shopping centers or malls and get a little dog tag in the shape of an angel with the name of someone from Arizona who was in the Gulf... and it became a very important and personal way to get to them. It was on TV and radio constantly; all this time I was still trying to figure out what I could write to the ones in the Gulf who were alone and scared... and I also knew I would write a song called "Desert Angel," and suddenly I knew exactly what to say in the letter to the troops. I would tell them about Rhiannon, and about my treasured gold cross, and I would send them my feeling of sanctuary. I would do what I do when I sing... I would try to make them forget, even if for a moment, and they could come into my world. I finally wrote the letter, the night before the first shot was fired... and everyone thought I should send it to Stars and Stripes. I mailed it off and four days later, I wrote "Desert Angel," in my house, here in Paradise Valley. My letter did make it to Stars and Stripes, which I never, ever expected. On February 17, 1991, I went into Vintage Recorders and sang to a track that Michael Campbell had given me a few days after I had sent the letter. There were five songs on it, and as I listened, the second one came on, and I knew without going any further, that I had found my "Desert Angel." From the beginning, all the people who were around me really loved this song, because it meant so much more to all of us than it did to just me. We had lived through it, we had prayed, and my song would make at least all of us... never forget this war. So, "Desert Angel" is coming out on the "B" side of the first single of my "Best Of" album. I am doing this because I wanted you to have it as quickly as possible. I hope that for all of you that were there, it will always be a lullaby that will remind you that everything will be fine, it is over, you can sleep now. And for here who felt helpless and scared, a lot of things really do work out for the best in the end... I can only write songs when I am totally inspired... and the flag that you, Sgt. Robert M. Garcia, sent me is something that makes me feel something that I wish I could explain to you, but I can't. Yes, when you washed it out for me, the colors did ring true.
"Operation Desert Shield,
Operation Desert Storm
Operation Desert Angels
In waiting."
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Stop Draggin My Heart Around
Inspired by Jimmy Iovine
Jimmy (Iovine) played this song to me while he was still finishing Tom's album; it was one of those songs that Tom was not going to do, and he told Jim that I could do it. I wasn't used to doing other people's songs, so I didn't really like the idea at first, but I loved Tom Petty, so I agreed to try. So we went into the studio and sang it live, together. I was completely entranced, and I instantly fell into love with the song. Duets were the things I loved the most... maybe this was a second beginning. And we would sing like no one else, and nobody else would ever sing like us.
Bella Donna... 1981
--
Whole Lotta Trouble
Inspired by Michael Campbell and The Heartbreakers
I recorded this song in Michael's room in Sydney, Australia, on his 4-track. I actually played guitar, and almost a year later, Michael had worked up a track right along with what I had played in Australia. He wrote a bridge for it, and when I got home from my tour, he insisted I come up and sing it exactly as I had played it that night; and he could play his track right along with me playing rock and roll guitar... I was totally flattered. On the other side of the coin, he is the only person in my whole life who has EVER done one of my songs exactly as I had written it. So thank you, Michael, for all your wonderful music and for sharing some of it with me... nothing like a tour with Tom Petty and Bob Dylan to make you extremely creative. I asked Tom if I could be an honorary Heartbreaker, and he said, 'You already are one, Stevie...
The Other Side Of The Mirror... 1989
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Talk To Me
Inspired by Jim Keltner, Chas Sandford and Jimmy Iovine
This was a hard song to sing, but I had loved Missing You (co-written by Chas with John Waite), and I loved the words to Talk To Me. It took a long time to finish it though, because I couldn't quite get the right feeling on it until one night, Jim Keltner came in to do some drum overdubs; and then he stayed to be an audience to push me a little, to make me get a great vocal. So I had someone to sing to, and I got the vocal. I put some tambourine on it, and it was finished forevermore. That was one of my unforgettable moments. I'll not soon... forget it.
Rock A Little... 1985
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Beauty And The Beast
Written for Mick Fleetwood
Inspired by Jean Cocteau and his early French film about the Beauty and the Beast
We recorded this live in New York, with Roy Bittan playing grand piano, and Paul Buckmaster doing the strings and conducting the orchestra, and me and the background singers, all at the same time. It was like we had gone back in time; we all wore long black dresses, and served champagne, and recorded it all in one room. When it was over, I walked out with this elderly gentleman who played violin, and the generation gap ceased to exist.
I also remember Mick and I years later at the Red Rocks 'Rock A Little' video. He had come by himself to play, and he stayed there with me all night (in the rain) to do close-ups; everyone else had left.
Who is the beauty, and who is the beast.? Which one of you? Have you ever really been able to answer that? I have, it took a long time, but I did finally... find the answer.
The Wild Heart... 1983
--
Stand Back
Inspired by Prince
I got married the day I wrote this song. We were driving to Santa Barbara and a new song by Prince came on, so we pulled over somewhere and got the tape. It just gave me an incredible idea, so I spent many hours that night writing a song about some kind of a crazy argument, and it was to become one of the most important of my songs. I've been doing this song for years, Fleetwood Mac does it also, and I never get tired of it. 'Stand Back' has always been my favorite song onstage because when it starts, it has an energy that comes from somewhere unknown and it seems to have no timespace. I've never quite understood this sound, but I have NEVER questioned it.
I become a different person, and I like that, because usually I make up my OWN characters, but the lady in Stand Back was not my idea. By the way, Prince did come into the studio the night I called him and told him about the song, and he played incredible synthesizer on it. And then he just walked out of my life, and I didn't see him for a long time. It was extraordinary...
The Wild Heart... 1983
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If Anyone Falls
Inspired by Waddy Wachtel
There was a time when I was falling out of one love into another, when nothing else seemed to matter except this person. I adored him... he was everything I wanted to be; a real rock and roller and a lover of The Stones... small and frail sometimes, but in many ways the strongest person I have ever known. His word was law. became him, he became me, and no one dared intrude upon this union. He is no longer with me, but his spirit twin never leaves him. It was music combined with love, combined with the fact that when Waddy was beside me, I felt completely safe. It is to my great sorrow that we are no longer on stage together, but it is to my great joy that he always seems to be with me, even after all this time. Love is a word that some entertain... If you find it, then you have won the game...
The Wild Heart... 1983
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I Can't Wait
Inspired by Rick Nowels
To understand this song, you sort of have to let yourself go a little crazy. Love is blind, it never works out, but you just have to have it. I think this was about the most exciting song that I had ever heard. My friend, Rick, whom I had known since I was 18 and he was 13, brought over this track with this incredible percussion thing, and gave it to me asking me if I would listen to it and consider writing a song for it. I listened to the song once, and pretended not to be that knocked out, but the second Rick left, I ran in my little recording studio and wrote 'I Can't Wait.' It took all night, and I think it is all about how electric I felt about this music. And that night, that SATURDAY night, Rick and I went into a BIG studio and recorded it. I sang it only once, and have never sung it since in the studio. Some vocals are magic and simply not able to beat. So I let go of it, as new to me as it was; but you know, now when I hear it on the radio, this incredible feeling comes over me, like something really incredible is about to happen.
To understand this song, you sort of have to let yourself go a little crazy... love is blind, it never works outs... but you just have to have it... I can't wait
Rock A Little... 1985
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Leather And Lace
Written for Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter
Inspired by Don Henley
I wrote this song because Waylon Jennings called me up and asked me to write a song called 'Leather and Lace.' It was to be a duet for him and his wife (Jessi Colter), and I worked very hard trying to explain what it was like to be in love with someone in the same business, and how to approach dealing with each other. It's probably the hardest thing in the world to do because it falls out of your hands and into the hands of the world, which tends to want you to not be able to handle it. I have to tell you now that Mr. Don Henley was pretty much responsible for this song because he came over every day and told me to either start over, or that I was on the right track, and he made me finish it (because I almost gave up many times). When it was finally finished, Don and I made a very simple demo of it - he sang it with me, and it was truly wonderful. And then I found out that Waylon and Jessi were breaking up, and Waylon wanted to just sing it by himself. After all the work I had put into the philosophy of two people dealing with this problem, I told Waylon that only 4 people in this world could sing this song: he and his wife, or myself and Don Henley. Don and I had been going out for quite awhile, and, bless his heart, he did sing it with me, and again, as fate would have it, it became one of the most special love songs that I would ever write... and remains that, even today, after all these years. All in all, it was an unforgettable experience, as was he. Blame it on my wild heart.
Bella Donna... 1981
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Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You
Written for Joe Walsh
Inspired by Joe Walsh
I guess in a very few rare cases, some people find someone that they fall in love with the very first time they see them... from across the room, from a million miles away. Some people call it love at first sight, and of course, I never believed in that until that night I walked into a party after a gig at the hotel, and from across the room, without my glasses, I saw this man and I walked straight to him. He held out his hands to me, and I walked straight into them. I remember thinking, I can never be far from this person again... he is my soul. He seemed to be in a lot of pain, though hid it well. But finally, a few days later, (we were in Denver), he rented a jeep and drove me up into the snow covered hills of Colorado... for about 2 hours. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, but he did tell me a story of a little daughter that he had lost. To Joe, she was much more than a child. She was three and a half, and she could relate to him.
I guess I had been complaining about a lot of things going on on the road, and he decided to make me aware of how unimportant my problems were if they were compared to worse sorrows. So he told me that he had taken his little girl to this magic park whenever he could, and the only thing she EVER complained about was that she was too little to reach up to the drinking fountain. As we drove up to this beautiful park, (it was snowing a little bit), he came around to open my door and help me down, and when I looked up, I saw the park... his baby's park, and I burst into tears saying, 'You built a drinking fountain here for her, didn't you?' I was right, under a huge beautiful hanging tree, was a tiny silver drinking fountain. I left Joe to get to it, and on it, it said, dedicated to HER and all the others who were too small to get a drink.
So he wrote a song for her, and I wrote a song for him... 'This is your song, ' I said to the people, but it was Joe's song. Thank you, Joe, for the most committed song I ever wrote. But more than that, thank you for inspiring me in so may ways. Nothing in my life ever seems as dark anymore, since we took that drive.
If not for me then, do it for the world...
If not for me then, do it for the yourself...
I want you to remember... me...
Poet... Priest of nothing... LEGEND...
Rock A Little... 1985
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Edge Of Seventeen
Inspired by John Lennon and my late uncle (Jonathan William)
I had lived up in the hills with Jimmy (Iovine) for almost six months. He was coming to the end of Tom Petty's album... it seemed I had waited a long time, and so since no one really knew where I was. i was starting to get very edgy to do something... I was also staring to feel very unimportant and very sorry for myself. I was really to begin "Bella Donna" and it seemed like it would never happen. Jimmy and told me many times about his incredible friendship with John Lennon; how John had taken Jimmy in and taught him how to record. he was his teacher... and I was entranced because I could not imagine these two together. Anyway, it was a real life fairy tale, and i believed it. Then one day, the fairy tale ended... Jimmy's friend was dead... But Jimmy's love for John did not die. A terrible sadness set in over the house, there was simply nothing I could do to help and nothing I could say. So I went home... Jimmy would have to go this one alone.
I went home to Phoenix... and went to visit my uncle (who was very sick), not knowing that no one but his son, John, was there... and I sat on his bedside, while John sat on the floor beside him, and we stayed there. My father did not come, nor my mother... not my aunt... so I sat there and held his hand, and sometime right about sunset, he slightly turned his head to John, and then to me, and his hand slowly let go of mine. I did run out to the hallway, but no one was there... and the white winged dove took flight...
"Well I hear you, in the morning...
And I hear you, at nightfall...
But sometimes to be near you...
It to be unable.. to hear you..."
Goodbye to you both, I said...
There was nothing else left to say..
Bella Donna... 1981
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Rooms On Fire
Written for Rupert Hine
Inspired by Rupert Hine
The night I met Rupert Hine was a dangerous one. He was different from anyone else I had ever known. He was older, and he was smarter, and we both knew it. I hired him to do the album before we even started talking about music. It seemed that we had made a spiritual agreement to do a magic album... in a fabulous Dutch castle, at the top of the mountain. We recorded it in the formal dining room where upon the walls hung all these very old and expensive pieces of art - looking at us - we were never alone. It always seemed to me that whenever Rupert walked into one of these old, dark castle rooms, that the rooms were on fire. There was a connection between us that everyone around us instantly picked up on, and everyone was very careful to respect our space... our 'TimeSpace,' so we all lived at the castle for about four-and-a-half months. I went home with him to England to mix the album at his studio - he left in December. I joined him there in London in January. He left immediately for his studio, Farmyard Studios, somewhere outside London. It was like being in a cottage in Wales, it was a little spooky. The atmosphere was like nothing I had ever experienced. Then something happened to him that simply made it impossible for us to ever be together again. I left him there... the rooms were still burning, but the fire had been stolen from us. It wasn't over love. In fact, it had nothing to do with love. It was just a bad situation. I came back to Los Angeles, a very changed woman. And now, long nets of white cloud my memory. Now I remember the rooms, the music, and how truly magic the whole thing was...
'Alright, said Alice, I'm going back...
To the other side of the mirror.'
'What price love... What price glory...
The Other Side Of The Mirror... 1989
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