The keeper of the time is blind
“Watch Chain” is a track from the Deluxe Edition of 24 Karat Gold — Songs from the Vault, Stevie Nicks’ eighth solo album.
Lyrics
Lovely soft faded jeans
A very soft shirt in a light blue
Perfect dreams and a watch chain
Becomes you
You’re just a watch chain
And it becomes you
A watch chain
A watch chain
Watch devil
Keeper of the time
Lovely soft tired face
Touching fingers through the kitchen lace
I think that I should hold your hand
I’m hurting darling, do you understand
Well, I’m hurting, darling
Do you understand
Watchdevil
Keeper of the time
Watch devil
Be aware of the danger
As you cross the great water
Be careful of strangers
Who are new to your eyes
Beware of the people
Who look not straight at you
The keeper of the time is blind
The keeper of the time is blind
Well, the keeper of the time is blind
Watch devil
Keeper of the time
Keeper of the time
(Stevie Nicks) © 2014 Welsh Witch Music (BMI). Administered by Songs of Kobalt Music Publishing (BMI)
About the Song
“Watch Chain” dates back to a mid-1970s demo, also known as “Watch Devil.” The song appeared on a bootleg called Cathouse Blues, a collection of mostly unreleased songs written in the early to mid-1970s. Some of these songs were intended for the second Buckingham Nicks album, which the duo had been working on just prior to joining Fleetwood Mac in 1974. “Watch Chain” also appears on the vinyl bootleg Fleetwood Mac – Almanac.
Official Commentary
“Lindsey and I are American kids – California kids. We didn’t know anything about style. We were hippie kids, so Mick was like Mr. Style and when he came into our lives, everybody had to up our style a little bit.
“‘Watch Chain’ really started out as a metaphor to Mick and that whole kind of English thing with the little tiny, slightly backed shoulders and the nipped-in waist. It was a good look, and it was a good look for women too – all the girls in my life, we all thought, ‘Oh, we want to look like Mick, for sure.’ So we all tried to get the same kind of jeans and little vests and silk shirts.”
Cathouse Blues Bootleg
- Watch Devil (Watch Chain)
- Secret Love
- Without You
- Storms
- Nomad (Candlebright)
- Designs of Love (That’s Alright)
- You Could Forget (Garbo)
- Sorcerer
- Goldfish and the Ladybug
- Cathouse Blues
- Smile At You
- Castaway
- Silver Springs
- After the Glitter Fades
- Crying in the Night (Remix)
- Kind of Woman
- Think about It
