“Thrown Down” is Track 4 on Fleetwood Mac’s 17th studio album Say You Will (2003).
About the Song
Stevie rehearsed “Thrown Down” for Trouble in Shangri-La, her seventh solo album, but it did not make the final cut.
“There’s a song on [Say You Will] called ‘Thrown Down’ that I think she tried about three different times with three different producers and never made it anywhere,” according to Lindsey Buckingham. “It was supposed to go on a solo album (Stevie’s 2001 Trouble in Shangri-La). It was just obvious to me it needed a guitar riff in the chorus. It was a fairly simple thing, for some reason. There seems to be an understanding between us as to what to do” (Buckingham, 2003).
“‘Thrown Down’ is about Lindsey, but I wrote that around the time of The Dance tour in 1997,” Stevie recalled. “Let’s just say he continues to be a well of inspiration, which is terrific” (Nicks, 2003).
The NBC TV show Friends played “Thrown Down” in a scene on the Season 9 episode, “The One with the Soap Opera Party.”
Lyrics
You fell for her again, she watched it happen
Every day, day by day
But more important, night by night
She watched it all come into play
He held her hands
She listened to what he had to say
Thrown down like a barricade
Maybe now he could prove to her
That he could be good for her
And they should be together
You’ve shaken your faith in me, no
You’ve shaken the faith in everything else
A decision no one makes
And now you’re going home
Faith is a hard thing to hold on to
Something inside you says I don’t have to
You’re not like other people, you do what you want to
You’re not like other people, you do what you want to
Thrown down like a barricade
Maybe now he could prove to her
That he could be good for her
And they should be together
You say you’re sorry
Now you should walk away
But it’s so overwhelming
You have nothing left to say
You can sit outside his door and wait
Well, you can dedicate your pain to him
Oh, thrown down like a barricade
Maybe now he could prove to her
That he could be good for her
And they should be together
About just how much he never really told her
Thrown down
About how difficult it had been
To be without her, thrown down
(Stevie Nicks)
Release
Reprise/WEA released “Thrown Down” as a promotional single for radio play.
References
Buckingham, L. (2003). San Francisco Chronicle.
Nicks, S. (2003). Independent review.
