“For What It’s Worth” is Track 2 and the second single from In Your Dreams (2011), Stevie Nicks’ seventh solo album. It follows “Secret Love” and precedes “In Your Dreams” in the running order.
About the Song
“For What It’s Worth” reflected on the 1994 Street Angel Tour, for which Stevie chose to ride a tour bus for the first time to travel from show to show. “It was the only time I ever went on a bus right after rehab, and I was really fragile and scared, and I should not have been on a big tour, which I was. When you come out of rehab, they tell you don’t anything. You need to be careful…don’t get married, don’t sell your house, don’t do anything stupid because you may not feel that way in a year. So, we basically made out across the United States. It was fantastic, and that’s what this song’s about. And he did save my life, because I was not ready for thousands and thousand and thousands of people, you know, sober. (The person who saved Stevie’s life is alleged to be Dallas Taylor, the late session drummer who famously played with Crosby, Stills & Nash and accompanied Stevie on the 1994 Street Angel Tour.)
Stevie wrote the lyrics for “For What It’s Worth” in the Maui city of Napili, Hawaii on May 27, 2010. “The day I came back from Hawaii… I had taken all my recording equipment with me [and] I sent it all back the day before… So, on that Thursday morning, I’m sitting on my bed. I’m looking out at the ocean, and I thought, you know, I think I’m gonna revisit the 13 tracks…Track 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 — Track 7. This track comes on, and I had just seen this documentary about riding the rails and, all of the sudden, I’m thinking about me going across the United States in a bus one time in my life; we always have a plane. And I’m thinking about riding the rails and watching the cities go by and how amazing that is. The track starts playing, and I see it and I’m writing it madly and I’m calling Karen…Karen! Karen! Karen! I swear to God, this is not an old poem. I just started writing. And Lori and my niece Jessie, who’s 18, came upstairs and I said, ‘You gotta hear this!’ and I just sat and sang it for Lori and Jessie. And I had just written it, and my little niece, I think it was the first time she had ever really seen me create. And when it was over, she goes, ‘Aunt Stevie, that was awesome!'” (Stewart & Nicks, 2013)
Release
Reprise Records released “For What It’s Worth” as a single on July 11, 2011 and a promotional video on August 24, 2011.
Dave Stewart and Paul Boyd directed the promotional video for “For What It’s Worth,” which showed Stevie Nicks, Michael Campbell, and Dave Stewart riding in a bus, traveling to El Mirage Lake, a dry lake bed in the Mojave Desert on the western edge of San Bernardino County. This location served as the backdrop for most of the video (and for Fleetwood Mac’s 1982 “Hold Me” video). For the video, Stevie wore her trademark black chiffon dress and top hat, wrote in her journal, and played the guitar.
Stevie performed “For What It’s Worth” on the following television programs to promote the single:
- America’s Got Talent (NBC), July 27, 2011
“For What It’s Worth,” “Edge of Seventeen” - The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC), July 28, 2011
“For What It’s Worth” - Good Morning America: Summer Concert Series (ABC), August 26, 2011
“For What It’s Worth,” “Landslide,” “Rhiannon”
Lyrics
I got to sing, I got to dance
I got to be a part of a great romance
Still forbidden, still outrageous
Only a few around us knew
But no one said a word it was contagious
Looked out the window and watched the cars fly by
I look at you and I start to cry
What you did was you saved my life
I won’t forget it
You said even if I left my girlfriend
Packed up my stuff
Loaded up my car
Drove down to your house
With good intentions came through your door
For what’s it worth…
I got to love, I rode the rails
You came with me because you cared
I was broke and I was scared
You held my hand and took away my fear
We knew we couldn’t last
And that was hard.
Looked out the window and watched the cars fly by
I look at you and I start to cry
What you did was you saved my life
I won’t forget it
You said even if I left my girlfriend
Packed up my stuff
Loaded up my car
Drove down to your house
With good intentions came through your door
For what’s it worth…
I got to sing, I got to dance
I got to be a part of a great romance
Still forbidden, still outrageous
Only a few around us knew
But no one said a word it was contagious
Looked out the window and watched the cars fly by
I look at you and I start to cry
What you did was you saved my life
I won’t forget it
You said even if I left my girlfriend
Packed up my stuff
Loaded up my car
Drove down to your house
With good intentions came through your door
Oh, you said even if I left my girlfriend
Packed up my stuff
Loaded up my car
Drove down to your house
With good intentions came through your door
For what’s it worth…
For what it’s worth, for what it’s worth…
(Stevie Nicks/Michael Campbell) © 2011 Welsh Witch Music (BMI) Admin. by Sony/ATV Songs LLC (BMI) / Wild Gator Music (ASCAP)
Dave Stewart and Paul Boyd produced and directed the promotional video for Weapons of Mass Entertainment. Edited by Shane McClafferty.
Reference
Warner Music Group. (2011, August 24). Stevie Nicks: For What It’s Worth. Retrieved from youtube.com
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