“Sable on Blond” is Track 9 on The Wild Heart (1983), Stevie Nicks‘ second solo album. It follows “Nothing Ever Changes” and precedes “Beauty and the Beast” in the album track order. An alternate version of “Sable on Blond” appears on the deluxe edition of The Wild Heart (2016).

About the Song

Stevie wrote the song about Jimmy Iovine, but also alluded to her childhood friend Robin Anderson, who passed away from cancer in 1982.

“I wrote this when I came off the Bella Donna tour, one of the most exhilarating and beautiful experiences I’ve ever had. And I moved into my new dream house, but it was more of a nightmare because it was cold and empty. I only had my piano. There were no phones, and I was alone, freezing, with nothing. It was like going from heaven straight to hell without stopping off for a burger on the way. I was devastated. I moved into my closet with my quilt and pillows and my writing stuff. My clothes were hanging in my face, and I took my little stereo in there, and that’s where I lived. But the song really is about learning to live with Stevie; learn to be a stranger, learn to live in silence, learn not to call on everybody else to get you out of everything or make everybody else pay for what you’re going through because you’ve chosen this life. Like Arthur learned from Excalibur, you do not ever call on your most precious magic unless you are literally out of other choices.” (Modern Records, 1983)

Just how deep do you hold that dream in your hands each night…

• Inspired by Jimmy Iovine
• Featured Mick Fleetwood on drums
• Reminiscent of ‘Dreams’

That fraying relationship eventually found musical form on her track “Sable on Blond,” which features Mick Fleetwood on drums. Stevie explains that she asked him to drum because “I wanted to write another song similar to ‘Dreams.’ Since I only know three chords on the piano,” she laughs, “I used my ‘Dreams’ chords, but sang a completely different melody over it.

“As for the words, “They were about Jimmy and me coming to an end,” she says firmly. “There was a point where I was living in this new house on Sunset in the Palisades. We hadn’t broken up, but we weren’t living together. The living room was round, surrounded by windows, and in it I had my white Steinway piano and my black Bösendorfer. And I would sit between those two pianos and imagine: Jimmy is driving by.

“This was completely a dream state because there was no road where he could drive by and see me sitting there!” she chuckles. “But this idea in the words — ‘…Have you come to see that my face is not seen…outside my frost-covered windows’ — well, there’s no frost in California either, but that’s kind of how it felt!

“Then the idea of ‘sable on blond’: that was Jimmy’s and my hair — this California blonde and this dark Italian New Yorker. We were so different, a crazy-looking couple. That’s that vision thing,” she shrugs. “those are the pictures that you paint. These are the things that you remember.

“The original poem, Stevie adds, was written “in one of my Sulamith Wülfing books, right next to this drawing that inspired it.” Wülfing, a 20th century German artist famed for her depictions of fairies, dreamscapes, and mystical figures, is a visual touchstone for Stevie.

“Mick gave me a book of her paintings and drawings in 1975, just after Lindsey and I joined Fleetwood Mac. There’s one called The Falling Leave [sic], with a girl looking up at a feather falling from the sky. That’s what I was feeling about losing Robin.” (Stevie Nicks, 2016)

Sable on Blond (Alternate Version)

Lyrics

Learn to be a stranger
Blond on blond
In silence she says, “Excalibur”
I beg of you now
What was it that fell
Was it

One fallen leaf
Like the feather that it was
Was it freedom by choice
Or, baby, was it love

Was it a thorn in your side
Something that you hide
Something you don’t touch
Because it hurts too much
Ooh…

Well, have you come to see
That my face is not seen
Ooh, outside my frost covered windows
Oh, and just how deep
Do you hold that dream
In your hands each night
This time
In your hands each night
This time

Oh, was it you
I heard calling
Which voice
Well, I know that you are going
Which voice
Did I force you to remember
In the sacred name of love

Well, to be brave
Save the stranger
Sable on blond
Dark upon light
Because it hurts too much

Just how deep
Do you hold that dream
Oh, in your hands each night
In your hands each night
Oh, in your hands each night

Ooh…
What was it that fell
Ooh…
I beg of you now
What was it that fell

Well, this time I think it was you, babe
Well, this time I think that it was you, babe
Wo…
Wo…

This time
Ooh, well I think it was you, baby
This time
Ooh, well I think it was you, baby
This time
Oh, well I think it was you, baby
This time
Oh, well I think it was you, baby
This time
Oh, well I think it was you, baby

(Stevie Nicks) © 1982 Welsh Witch Music (BMI) Admin by. Sony/ATV Songs, LLC)

Musicians

Piano: Roy Bittan
Bass: Kenny Edwards
Drums: Mick Fleetwood
Guitar: Waddy Wachtel
Synthesizer: Sandy Stewart
Background vocals: Sharon Celani & Lori Perry

Produced by Jimmy Iovine. Recorded at Studio 55, Los Angeles

References

McLean, Craig. (2016). Stevie Nicks: The Wild Heart, deluxe edition [Liner notes].
Modern Records. (1983). Stevie Nicks: The Wild Heart [Press release].

< Nothing Ever Changes | Beauty and the Beast >

“Stand Back” is Track 6 on The Wild Heart (1983), Stevie Nicks‘ second solo album. It was the lead single from the album, reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on Mainstream Rock.

“Stand Back” “Nightbird” and precedes “I Will Run to You” in the album track order.

About the Song

“Right after I got married, I heard this wonderful song Prince had done called ‘Little Red Corvette,’ and as soon as I heard it I went, ‘Boy, I love that.’ And I just started humming to myself, and in a matter of minutes, I had hummed along a very different melody than what Prince had done. Anyway, me being one of the more honest people you’ll ever meet, I immediately call Prince and tell him what I had written and how and he, against everybody’s thinking he wouldn’t, came down and played on this song! My intuitions are usually right and since he told me he was doing the video of ‘Little Red Corvette’ that day, and since I know videos and films always take a lot longer than anybody thinks, I didn’t think he’d show up. But Sandy and I rushed to the studio anyway, thinking ‘what if he comes, what are we going to show him. We’ll both get out there live and try to play the song for him and start to giggle,’ right? I mean, no chance. So under pressure of fire, we did it in one take, one time, and that’s what you hear; me singing live, Sandy on her synthesizer, Prince playing that dahdahdahdahdah, very kind of ‘Edge of Seventeen’ thing, and a drum machine.

Do not turn away my friend…

• Released as lead single from The Wild Heart
• Co-written by Prince
• Reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart

Between then and now, Steve Lukather put an incredible guitar solo in the middle and David Williams, who played all over [Michael Jackson’s] ‘Billie Jean Is Not My Lover,’ played on this. Anyway, ‘Stand Back’ become a real anthem, a real ‘I’m tired of listening to all your great advice, ’cause it’s gotten me nowhere, so I’m listening to myself now kind of anthem.’ So it came slightly out of strength, slightly out of being in love, slightly out of being married, and ever so slightly out of hearing the first three chords of ‘Little Red Corvette!’”

Inspired by Prince

“I got married the day I wrote this song. We were driving to Santa Barbara and a new Prince song 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 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 this 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.”

Lyrics

No one looked as I walked by
Just an invitation would have been just fine
Said no to him again and again
First he took my heart then he ran

No one knows how I feel
What I say unless you read between my lines
One man walked away from me
First he took my hand
Take me home

Stand back, stand back
In the middle of my room
I did not hear from you
It’s alright, it’s alright
To be standing in a line
(Standing in a line)
To be standing in a line
I would cry

La, la, la-la, la, la, la, la-la, la-la…
La, la, la la-la, la…

Do not turn away my friend
Like a willow I can bend
No man called my name
No man came

So I walked slow down away from you
Maybe your attention was more than you could do
One man did not call
He asked me for my love
That was all

Stand back, stand back
In the middle of my room
I did not hear from you
It’s alright, it’s alright
To be standing in a line
(Standing in a line)
To be standing in a line
I would cry

La, la, la-la, la, la, la, la, la…
La, la…
La, la, la-la la, la, la…
Ju-ju, ju-ju!
Oh…
La, la, la-la, la, la, la, la, la…
Da-da-da-da…
La, la, la-la, la…
Wah-ah!

So I walked on down the line away from you
Maybe your attention was more than I could do
One man did not fall
Well, he asked me for my love
That was all

Stand back, stand back
In the middle of my room
I did not hear from you
It’s alright, it’s alright
To be standing in a line
(Standing in a line)
To be standing in a line
I would cry

Feel I need a little sympathy
Well, I need a little sympathy
(Cry…)
Well, I need a little sympathy

Well, you could be standing in
(Stand back)
Well, you could be standing in
(Stand back)
Well, you could standing in
(Stand Back)

Take me home
Take home
(Stand back)
Why don’t you take me home

Well, I need a little sympathy
(Stand back)
Well, you could be standing in
(Stand back)
Why don’t you take…
(Me home)

Why don’t you take me home
(Stand back)
Take me home
(It’s alright)
Take me home
(It’s alright)
Oh, yeah…
Take me home

(Stevie Nicks/Prince Rogers Nelson) © 1983 Welsh Witch Music (BMI) / Admin. by Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI) / Controversy Music (ASCAP)

Original Lyrics

No one looked when I walked by
And an invitation would have been fine
Stand back…Stand back
If there had been a line…I’d have cried for you
In the middle of my room
I did not hear from you

Stand back…stand back
In the middle of my room
I did not hear from you
It’s alright…it’s alright
If you’d been standing in a line
I would cry for you

No one looked when I walked by
Even an invitation would have been just fine
I said no to you again and again
You took it to heart
And you walked away

Stand back…stand back
In the middle of my room
I did not hear from you
It’s alright…it’s alright
If you’d been standing in a line
I would cry for you

Only some know…what I say…what I mean
If you read between the lines
One man walked away from me
First he took my hand
Take me home…stand back

Stand Back (Live at US Festival 1983)

Stand Back (Live in Chicago)

Musicians

OBX-A & DMX drum machine programming: David Bluefield
Drums: Marvin Caruso
Percussion: Bobbye Hall
Drum overdubs: Russ Kunkel
Guitar: Steve Lukather
Synthesizer: Sandy Stewart
Guitar: Waddy Wachtel
Percussion: Ian Wallace
Guitar: David Williams
Background vocals: Sharon Celani & Lori Perry

Produced by Jimmy Iovine. Recorded at Studio 55, Los Angeles.

Billboard Charts

Pop Singles: 5
Mainstream Rock: 2 (June 4, 1983)

References

Modern Records. (1983). Stevie Nicks: The Wild Heart [Press release].
Nicks, S. (1991). [Liner notes]. Timespace: The best of Stevie Nicks [CD].

“I Will Run to You” is Track 7 on The Wild Heart (1983), Stevie Nicks‘ second solo album. It follows “Stand Back” and precedes “Nothing Ever Changes” in the album track order. It is a duet with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.

About the Song

“I don’t really know why Tom wrote this song for me because it’s not like he had to, or not like I called him up and asked him to do it. But for some reason, he wanted to write me something really pretty, and he did, and we worked real hard. We recorded in New York, and we didn’t get it. Then we went to Caribou and recorded but still came back without what we thought was a real lead vocal from either of us. Finally, we did it in L.A.

Show some mercy, honey…

• Duet with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
• Performed live at Radio City Music Hall, New York, September 12, 1983
• Reached No. 35 on Billboard Mainstream Rock chart

Tom and I love to sing together, and we’ve really developed this relationship, and I’m not really very interested in developing relationships with other men singers, because this is just perfect: we sing well, we have a great time, we complement each other. I love his songwriting, perfect, why bother? Whatever the hassles that be that make it difficult–and believe you me the hassles that be are everywhere to stop Tom and I from ever doing anything together, my relationship with him is more important. Anyway, the song’s fabulous. It’s beautiful, and I’m very honored that he even cared enough to write it for me.”

Lyrics

One so young, so changed
Should not be left alone
Two in love should confess
And not be left alone

And, I will run to you
Down whatever road you choose
Yes, I will follow you down
I will run to you

You’ve had time, come around
Will you please make up your mind
I stand accused on trial
Will you please make up your mind

And, I will run to you
Down whatever road you choose
Yes, I will follow you down
I will run to you

Make it easy for me
I been lonely, baby
Show some mercy, honey
I was nothing
All those lonely nights
Showed me something
If you need me
I’ll come runnin’

I will run to you
Down whatever road you choose
I will follow you down
I will run…

I will run to you
Down whatever road you choose
Yes, I will follow you down
I will run to you

(Tom Petty) © 1983 Gone Gator Music (ASCAP)

Musicians

Guitar: Michael Campbell
Bass: Howie Epstein
Drums: Stan Lynch
Guitar, vocals: Tom Petty
Keyboards: Benmont Tench

Produced by Jimmy Iovine. Recorded at The Hit Factory, New York.

Billboard Charts

Mainstream Rock: 35 (July 23, 1983)

References

Modern Records. (1983). Stevie Nicks: The Wild Heart [Press release].
Whitburn, J. (2008). Joel Whitburn presents rock tracks 1981-2008. Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, Inc.

< Stand Back | Nothing Ever Changes >

“Nothing Ever Changes” is Track 8 on The Wild Heart (1983), Stevie Nicks‘ second solo album. It follows “I Will Run to You” and precedes “Sable on Blond” in the album track order.

About the Song

“This is another song that Sandy wrote the track for. When I’m writing, I’ll go and drag out 300 pages of lyrics and take a word from here, a line from there, a verse from here. And it doesn’t really matter since I always start from my basic idea and go back to my words. I always say it better on the typewriter than I’m gonna say it while the song’s going by.

I can turn all our music on…

• Distinctive for its saxophone solo
• Reached No. 19 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart

This was written about a year and a half ago. Maybe you can tell I was feeling pretty cynical at the time. This is the only cynical song on this album.”

Lyrics

If it’s me that’s driving you to this madness
There’s just one thing that I’d like to say
Would you take a look at your life and your lovers
Nothing ever changes

Ooh, it was just the first time
That I ever played for you
Oh, I could be the dancer of your dreams

I can turn all your music on
I can make you feel alive
I am gone but I’m never gone from you
It was just the first time

Come back, little boy
Baby come back, yeah, little boy

Ooh, it’s just me that lies waiting
Well, it could come from anywhere
Oh, it could come straight, straight from my heart
Nothing can be saved here

I can turn all your music on
I can make you feel alive
I am gone but I’m never gone from you
It was just the first time

Come back, little boy
Baby come back, yeah, little boy

Come back, little boy
Baby come back, yeah, yeah, little boy

Nothing ever changes, you know it doesn’t
Nothing ever changes, ooh, you know it doesn’t
Nothing ever changes, you know it doesn’t
Nothing ever changes

Come back
Baby, come back
Baby, come back
Baby, come back, come back, come back, come back

Come back
Baby, come back
Baby, come back, yeah!
Come back, come back, come back, come back

Well, if it’s me that’s driving you to this madness

Come back
Baby, come back
Baby, come back
Come back, come back, come back, come back

Come back
Baby, come back
Baby, come back

(Stevie Nicks/Sandy Stewart) © 1982 Welsh Witch Music (BMI) Admin by. Sony/ATV Songs, LLC / Sweet Talk Music/Three Hearts Music (ASCAP)

Musicians

Piano: Roy Bittan
Guitar: Don Felder
Bass: Bob Glaub
Percussion: Bobbye Hall
Saxophone: Phil Kenzie
Drums: Russ Kunkel
Synthesizer: Sandy Stewart
Background vocals: Sharon Celani & Lori Perry

Produced by Jimmy Iovine. Recorded at Record Plant, Los Angeles.

Billboard Charts

Mainstream Rock: 19 (July 30, 1983)

References

Modern Records. (1983). Stevie Nicks: The Wild Heart [Press release].
Whitburn, J. (2008). Joel Whitburn presents rock tracks 1981-2008. Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, Inc.

< I Will Run to You | Sable on Blond >

“Garbo” is a completed track by Stevie Nicks from The Wild Heart recording sessions (1982-1983). It first appeared as the b-side of the “Stand Back” single.

About the Song

Stevie Nicks wrote “Garbo” about the “infamous photo session for the Buckingham Nicks (1973) album cover.” Despite Stevie’s reluctance to pose nude on the cover, she went along with the idea “for art, for the music.” Stevie reflected on the awkward experience in the song, comparing herself to female movie stars, who may have done similar things to further their careers (“You could be Garbo or even Marlene”). During the 1998 Enchanted Tour, Stevie revealed that she spent her last $110 on a beautiful blouse to wear for the photo session only to be asked to remove it later.

Releases

• “Stand Back” – 7″/12″ vinyl single (1983) B-side
• The Enchanted Works of Stevie Nicks (1998) Disc 1, Track 6
• The Wild Heart – Deluxe Edition (2016) Disc 2, Track 
• Complete Studio Albums & Rarities (2013) Disc 9, Track 3

Lyrics

I love to waltz with a man in a dark linen suit
All alone at a party with someone I knew
From a time gone by turned into stone

You could be Garbo or even Marlene
You could be Marilyn
Or you could forget

I play the part but then all of us do
And I do it so well as I do it to you
In this town full of strangers
In this town full of fools
Venus doesn’t glitter when she stands next to you
When you’re waltzing through stardom
You miss what you lose

Lose yourself in a silvery dress
For you think you must do what you feel you do best
And you mustn’t give it up for you’re still but a guest

You could be Garbo or even Marlene
Or you could forget

Forget…
Forget…
Forget…
You could be Garbo…
You could forget…
You could forget…

(Stevie Nicks) © 1982 Welsh Witch Music (BMI) / Admin. by Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI)

Musicians

Bob Glaub: Bass
Bobbye Hall: Percussion
Russ Kunkel: Drums
Benmont Tench: Organ
Waddy Wachtel: Guitar
Sharon Celani & Lori Perry: Background vocals

Produced by Jimmy Iovine

Reference

Nicks, S. (1998). Enchanted: The Works of Stevie Nicks.

< Beauty and the Beast | Wild Heart >

“Gate and Garden” is Track 3 on The Wild Heart (1983), Stevie Nicks‘ second solo album. It follows “If Anyone Falls” and precedes “Enchanted” in the album track order.

About the Song

“It’s all through my diary, ‘what are they gonna ask me about this?’ ’cause I don’t know what ‘Gate and Garden’ is about. I guess it’s my idea about my escapes, of the places that I go, the things that I do, and think about — that is my private, silent, secret garden world that belongs to nobody else. That’s where and what that place probably is for me. Everybody should have their own secret, peaceful garden.”

Lyrics

There is a gate
It can be guarded
Well, it is not heaven
And it has a garden
So to the red rose
Grows the passion

And the guardian
Well, it’s now you know
It’s just a few days away
It’s now you know
And it’s then
It’s just a game that we play
Someone steals it
Someone steals it away
It scares you to death
You don’t give into yourself
You give into your friends
Don’t send an answer
How many times have you said

Do I love you
Well, I always did (every night)
Nobody knows nothing ’bout it, no
Wo, do I love you
Well, I always did
Nobody knows
Knows nothing ’bout it

Well, it’s now you know
It’s everywhere
You say you seek the truth
I say all is fair
Don’t send an answer
How many times
Have you said

Do I love you (every night)
Well, I always did
Nobody knows nothin’ ’bout it
Wo, do I love you
Well, I always did (every night)
Nobody knows nothin’ ’bout it
They know nothing ’bout it
They know nothing’ ’bout it

Do I love you…ooh-hoo
Wo, do I love you…ooh-hoo
Wo, do I love you…ah-ha
Wo, do I love you…oh-ho
Wo, do I love you
Do I love you…ooh-hoo
Wo, do I love you
Ooh-ooo-hoo
Do I love you…oh-ho-ho-ho

Ooh…

(Stevie Nicks) © 1982 Welsh Witch Music (BMI) / Admin. by Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI).

Musicians

Dave Monday: Guitar
Brad Smith: Drums & percussion
Sandy Stewart: Keyboards, synthesizer
Benmont Tench: Organ
Waddy Wachtel: Guitar
Sharon Celani & Lori Perry: Background vocals

Produced by Jimmy Iovine. Recorded at Goodnight, Dallas

Reference

Modern Records. (1983). Stevie Nicks: The Wild Heart [Pr/music/the-wild-heart-1983/enchanted/ess release].

< If Anyone Falls | Enchanted >

“Wild Heart” is Track 1 on The Wild Heart (1983), Stevie Nicks‘ second solo album. It precedes “If Anyone Falls” in the album track order. An alternate version of “Wild Heart” appears on the deluxe edition of The Wild Heart (2016).

About the Song

“It was born in New York, and it’s just intense. There are some wild words in it that just sort of popped up. I think that people are gonna love ‘Wild Heart.’ It’s the one song that I go back to time to time again and listen to. There’s something about the vocal that just gives me shivers because it’s just so real. People will understand that, probably more than a lot of other things, because it definitely takes you through your nervous breakdown and through your recovery, and it takes you through your survival.

“And everybody’s heart is wild, so it’s not like I’ve got any kind of hold on it, ’cause this entire album was written for everybody and their wild heart. This was very much meant to be shared and given to people to have them just love the idea that they have wild hearts ’cause I love that — I love that” (Nicks, 1983).

“I’d written ‘Wild Heart’ early on. I remember singing it during a Rolling Stone cover shoot for Bella Donna. And I wrote it completely and utterly about the movie Wuthering Heights. I wrote it about Heathcliff and Cathy, and the fact that they were one person, that they couldn’t be together and they couldn’t be separate, and about the power and the drama of the closing death bed scene… All those amazing things he says to her” (Nicks, 2016).

Wild Heart (demo)

Lyrics

Something in my heart died last night
Just one more chip off an already broken heart
I think the heart broke long ago
That’s when I needed you
When I needed you most
That’s when I needed you
When I needed you most

Well, I run around like a spirit in flight
Fearlessness is fearlessness
I will not forget this night
Dare my wild heart
Dare my wild heart

Where is the reason
Don’t blame it on me
Blame it on my wild heart
As to the seasons
You fought from the beginning
Long before I knew it
There was a danger
And the danger was
To fall in love

In dark sorrow
They gaze down into the darkest heart
If I leave you
You say not even you can tear us apart, whoa
Say you’re leaving
You say, you don’t even know
How to start
How to start
How to start
Well, believe it then
And don’t blame it on my soul
Blame it on my wild heart
Ooh, on my wild heart
Ooh…

Fire on fire
Rain on my face
Fever goes higher
What can you do
Wild in the darkest places of your mind
That’s where I needed you
Where I needed you most
That’s where I needed you
Where I needed you most
Where is the reason
Well, don’t blame it on me
Blame it on my wild heart
There is a reason
Why even the angels
Don’t give it up at all
(Blame it on me
Blame it on me)
Where are the children
Well, are they hopelessly enchanted
Blame it on the angels
(Blame it on me)
(Blame it on me)
Where are the reasons
Don’t blame it on us
Blame it on our
Wild heart
Wild heart
Wild heart
Wild heart

On my wild heart
On my wild heart

Well, even in the darkest places of your mind
(Even in the darkest places of your mind)
Whoa, are the children are they hopelessly enchanted
(Are the children like hopelessly enchanted)
Wild in the darkest places of your mind
(Darkest places of your mind)
No, don’t blame it on me, baby

Blame it on my wild heart
(Blame it on my, blame it on my, blame it on my)
(Blame it on my, blame it on my, blame it on my)
Ooh… Ooh… ooh…

Blame it on my wild heart
Blame it on my wild heart
(Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby)
Blame it on my wild heart
Blame it on my wild, wild, wild
(Don’t blame it on my, don’t blame it on my)

Wild heart
Blame it on my wild heart
Baby, even in the darkest places of your mind
(Don’t blame it my)

(Stevie Nicks) © 1982 Welsh Witch Music (BMI) / Admin. by Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI)

Musicians

Guitar: David Monday
Guitar: Dean Parks
Drums & percussion: Brad Smith
Synthesizer: Sandy Stewart
Bass: Roger Tausz
Background vocals: Sharon Celani & Lori Perry

Produced by Jimmy Iovine. Recorded at Goodnight Dallas

Reference

Nicks, Stevie. (1983). Stevie Nicks: The Wild Heart [Modern Records press release].
Nicks, Stevie. (2016). Stevie Nicks: The Wild Heart. [Booklet notes].

< Garbo | If Anyone Falls >

“Beauty and the Beast” is Track 10 on The Wild Heart (1983), Stevie Nicks‘ second solo album. It also appears on the retrospectives Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks (1991) and Enchanted: The Works of Stevie Nicks (1998).

About the Song

“Besides the fact that ‘Beauty and the Beast’ to me is a story of desperation (see the Jean Cocteau film) and besides the fact that ‘Beauty and the Beast’ surrounds me everywhere — everybody I know is either being the beauty or the beast — the experience of recording this song was so special.

It began as a piano demo done in Lori’s husband Gordon Perry’s studio in Dallas. The room is just magical, a church. Lori later sent me a tape with beautiful voices on it, and Sharon and I tried to duplicate it, but we couldn’t. So we got all the original vocalists together in New York and recorded it live. We brought the orchestra in for a three-hour live session–and I’m someone who’s oblivious to being able to do anything in the studio in a mere three hours! I knew they were gonna pack their little violin cases and walk away from me in no time.

Meanwhile, Roy Bittan’s playing piano just like I do, and everybody’s watching me. Nobody has done a live session in years. No Stevie Nicks has walked in in a long black dress to sing ‘Beauty and the Beast with champagne for all these men in probably as long as they can remember, even 30 years ago. I wanted them to feel like they were the most special orchestra that ever existed for that night. They walked in, played, and left. And it’s like they don’t even have any idea what they gave me, how precious it is.”

Who Is the Beauty, Who The Beast…

• Written for Mick Fleetwood
• Inspired by Jean Cocteau’s 1946 French film adaptation of the 1757 story Beauty and the Beast, written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
• Dedicated to Vincent and Katherine

“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.”

Lyrics

You’re not a stranger to me
And you, well, you’re something to see
You don’t even know how to please
You say a lot, but you’re unaware how to leave

My darling lives in a world that is not mine
An old child misunderstood, out of time
Timeless is the creature who is wise
And timeless is the prisoner in disguise

Oh, who is the beauty, who the beast
Would you die of grieving when I leave
Two children too blind to see
I would fall in your shadow
I believe

My love is a man who’s not been tamed
Oh, my love lives in a world of false pleasure and pain
We come from difference worlds
We are the same (my love)
I never doubted your beauty
I’ve changed

I never doubted your beauty
I’ve…changed
Changed

Who is the beauty
Ooh, where is my beast (my love)
There is no beauty
Without my beast (my love)

Who is the beauty (le bete)
Who… (my love)
Ahh…

Ooh, la bete
La bete
Where is my beast
La bete, la bete
Ooh, where is my beast
La bete, le bete, le bete
My beauty, my beauty
My beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful beast

(Stevie Nicks) © 1982 Welsh Witch Music (BMI) Admin by. Sony/ATV Songs, LLC)

Musicians

Produced by Jimmy Iovine. Strings arranged by Paul Buckmaster and Kenneth Whitfield. Recorded at Studio 55, Los Angeles

References

Modern Records. (1983). Stevie Nicks: The Wild Heart [Press release].
Nicks, S. (1991). [Liner notes]. Timespace: The best of Stevie Nicks [CD].

< Sable on Blond | Garbo >

“If Anyone Falls” is Track 2 on The Wild Heart (1983), Stevie Nicks‘ second solo album. It follows “Wild Heart” and precedes “Gate and Garden” in the album track order. “If Anyone Falls” was the album’s second single, reaching No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No 8. on Mainstream Rock.

About the Song

Sandy Stewart had written the instrumental track on a synthesizer. She had been working on demos with producer Gordon Perry, but couldn’t come up with lyrics for this particular track. So she gave the track to Stevie, who added lyrics that would become the song “If Anyone Falls.”

“[If Anyone Falls] is the first song that I wrote with Sandy. I’ve probably prayed for so many years that I’d find somebody I could write songs with, and I finally found her. She lives in Houston, and she’s totally crazy. She’s a real brilliant musician and what she does for me is she write a song, goes in with a band and records it, sends me the track, track sounds great. I go into my bathroom, put it on my stereo, plug in my tape recorder, sing along, record it right there. I play it for everybody the next day; everybody goes crazy, and that’s it, it’s over.

“There was a time when I was falling out of one love and 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 had ever known. His word was law. I became him. He became me, and no one dared intrude upon this union. ”

Somewhere in the back of your mind…

• Second single from The Wild Heart
• Inspired by guitarist Waddy Wachtel
• Reached No. 14 on Billboard Pop Singles chart

“He is no longer with me, but his spirit twin never leaves me. I think sometimes I liked being on stage just to watch him. It was music combined with love, combined with the fact that when Waddy was besides 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.’”

(Note: Stevie and Waddy have since reconciled and have been performing together onstage again.)

Lyrics

I hear a voice
In the room next to mine
Feels good, sounds good
Closes the door from behind
And another voice
Comes through the door

I am dealing with a man
When away from me
Stays deep inside my heart
And he says if anyone falls in love
It will be one of us

If anyone falls in love
Somewhere in the twilight, dreamtime
Somewhere in the back of your mind
If anyone falls

And I heard someone say
As my eyes turned away
He said, “I have loved many women.”
“I have many times run away.”

Ooh, I have never known the words
Well, I have tried to be true
Well, I have never known what to say, how to say
Seen anything today
I’ve never seen anything like you

If anyone falls in love
Somewhere in the twilight, dreamtime
Somewhere in the back of your mind
If anyone falls

So I’m never gonna see you
(Never gonna see you)
Deep inside my heart
Well, I see your shadow against
Shadow against, shadow against the wall
Baby, I see your shadow against the wall

I hear a voice
In the room next to mine
Feels good, sounds good
Closes the door from behind
And another voice
Comes through the door

Ooh, I am dealing with a man
When away from me
Stays deep inside my heart
And he says if anyone falls in love
It will be done to us

If anyone falls in love (anyone…)
Somewhere in the twilight, dreamtime
Somewhere in the back of your mind
(Somewhere in the back…of your mind)
If anyone falls

If anyone falls in love
(You say, anyone…)
Somewhere in the twilight, dreamtime
Somewhere in the back of your mind
(In the back of your mind)
If anyone falls

If anyone falls in love
(Well, say anyone…)
Somewhere in the twilight, dreamtime
Somewhere in the back of your mind
(In the back of your mind)
If anyone falls

If anyone falls in love
(Ooh, anyone…)
Somewhere in the twilight, dreamtime
Somewhere in the back of your mind
If anyone falls

(Stevie Nicks/Sandy Stewart) © 1982 Welsh Witch Music (BMI) / Admin. by Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI) / Sweet Talk Music/Three Hearts Music (ASCAP)

Musicians

Roy Bittan: Synthesizer
Bob Glaub: Bass
Bobbye Hall: Percussion
Russ Kunkel: Drums
Waddy Wachtel: Guitar
Carolyn Brooks, Sharon Celani & Lori Perry: Background vocals

Billboard charts

Pop Singles: 14
Mainstream Rock: 8 (September 24, 1983)

Appears On

• The Wild Heart (1983)
• Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks (remix) (1991)
• The Enchanted Works of Stevie Nicks (1998)
• Crystal Visions…The Very Best of Stevie Nicks (2007) (titled “If Anyone Falls in Love”)

References

Ladd, J. (1983). Innerview with Stevie Nicks [FM broadcast].
Modern Records. (1983). Stevie Nicks: The Wild Heart [Press release].
Nicks, S. (1991). [Liner notes]. Timespace: The best of Stevie Nicks [CD]. New York, NY: Atlantic Recording Corporation.
Whitburn, J. (2008). Joel Whitburn presents rock tracks 1981-2008. Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, Inc.

< Wild Heart | Gate and Garden >