“Thousand Days” is a completed track from the 1992-1994 Street Angel sessions. The track appears as a bonus track on the international single releases of “Blue Denim” and “Maybe Love.” A slightly longer version of the track appears on the compilation Enchanted: The Works of Stevie Nicks (1998).
The remastered 1994 mix will also appear on the compilation Complete Studio Albums & Rarities (2023).
About the Song
Stevie Nicks first rehearsed “Thousand Days” for Rock a Little (1986). Some of the song’s lyrics appear in Stevie’s dedication on the back cover of the Rock a Little album.
And I,
like some kind of Time/Life edition
tradition, competition~
Being the only things that I really have
to remember~
The great singers, and the great, great players
This music is dedicated to the great singers~
and the great, great players (my teachers)~
And to those who have survived the Viet Nam War~
“No, we do not forget you…”
Stevie recorded “Thousand Days” during the Street Angel (1994) sessions, but the completed version was not included on the album. It appeared as a bonus track on the single releases for Street Angel and on Enchanted: The Works of Stevie Nicks (1998) box set.
In 1998, Stevie revealed that the song was about her relationship with Prince. “‘Thousand Days’ was written about my non-relationship with Prince,” Nicks said, who had earlier composed “Stand Back” with him — although she notes he’s never called her back “to set up his payment on 50%” of the latter. “Days” recounts an abortive, all-night ’80s recording session with him at his Minneapolis home during a Fleetwood Mac tour, climaxing with Nicks “smoking my pot — he didn’t agree with my lifestyle — and going to sleep on Prince’s floor in his kitchen. I like him, but we were just so different there was no possible meeting ground.” (Modern Records, 1998)
Lyrics
The closest you’ve ever come to me
Was to help me up the stairs
You stood in the middle of the stairway
You nearly dragged me up the stairs
“You’ve been asleep.”
“Well, I’ve been asleep for how long?” she says
Ooh… “Why do you question me?”
He says, “You never cared about time before, my friend.”
It seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone…
It seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone…
Well, you’re not my friend, you’re not my love
And this is something that we really don’t discuss
If there is no time, and there is no place
And, if there was, well, you’d never leave a trace
And as all arch angels do to you
And as all arch enemies will finally do to you, too
Well, I found you
It seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone…
It seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone…
It seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone…
It seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone…
Quiet now, songbird, just for one night
Well, I know that you love to sing
And, oh baby, well, I know that you love to write
Well, you live by the light of the moon
I live by light of desire
Ooh, such words to her over the phone
“Just how many people are there with you now?”
Ooh, well, I can see the trouble
Well, the sun is here today now
And I requested a storm
But I like some kind of TIME/LIFE edition
Tradition, competition…
Being the only thing that I really have to remember
The great singers and the great players
And if the sun warms up the rain
And the rain puts out the sun
Why does the greatest love become the greatest pain?
A thousand days
It seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone…
Well, where are you?
Sometimes I hear you crying
It seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone…
And I wake up
And still I wake up crying
It seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone…
It seems like a thousand days
It seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone…
So, where are you?
Where you?
It seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone…
It seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone…
So, where are you?
Where you?
It seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone…
Oh, sometimes I hear you crying
It seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone…
Well, it seems like a thousand days…
Lyrics (demo)
The closest you’ve ever come to me
Was to help me up the stairs
You stood in the middle of the stairway
You nearly dragged me up the stairs
“You’ve been asleep
Well, I’ve been asleep for how long?”, she says
“Why do you question me?”
He says, “You never cared about time before, my friend”
Seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone
Seems like a thousand days since you’ve been gone
You’re not my friend, you’re not my love
And this is something that we really don’t discuss
If there is no time and there is no place
And if there was, well, you’d never leave a trace
And as all arch angels do to you
And as all arch enemies will finally do to you too
Well, I found you
Quiet now, songbird, just for one night
Well, I know that you love to sing
And, oh baby, well, I know that you love to write
You live by the light of the moon
And I live by light of desire
Ooh, such words to her over the phone
Just how many people are there with you now
Well, I can see the trouble
The sun is here today and I requested a storm
But I like some kind of ‘Time/Life’ edition
Tradition, competition
Being the only thing that I really have to remember
The great singers and the great players
And if the sun warms up the rain and the rain puts out the sun
Why does the greatest love become the greatest pain?
So where are you? Sometimes I hear you crying
and I wake up, and still I wake up crying
Well, he is on my mind, he’s everywhere
And if he followed me home
Will the sound of both of our voices simply disappear?
Well, I miss you now
He laughs, he has an attitude so I have an attitude too
He knocks on the door next to the courtyard
Well, he frightens me so, I let him in
But I’m already, well, I’m already screaming
How can the greatest love come from the greatest pain?
Thousand Days / Whole Lotta Trouble / I Call You Missing / Love Is Like a River
“Thousand Days” is related to “Whole Lotta Trouble” (recorded for The Other Side of the Mirror, 1989), “Love Is Like a River” (recorded for Street Angel, 1994) and the unreleased “I Call You Missing,” other songs Stevie had been writing at the same time. All four songs share some of the following lyrics:
Thousand Days, Whole Lotta Trouble
You’re not my friend
You’re not my love
And this is something that we really don’t discuss
I Call You Missing, Whole Lotta Trouble
And the angel said
Well you must have had a dream
And you remember it
’til the dream followed through
’til the end of the dream
And the dream came true
When I want something
I get it
I Call You Missing, Love Is Like a River
You used to call her wicked
She used to call you friend
You say her life is wild
Compared to what lifestyle
Thousand Days, Whole Lotta Trouble
So where are you
Sometimes I hear you crying
Interpretation
One Thousand and One Nights
Some fans have speculated that Stevie may have drawn literary inspiration from One Thousand and One Nights (better known as Arabian Nights), a collection of 18th century Middle Eastern and South Asian folk tales. In the tales, Scheherazade is the female protagonist who has developed remarkable storytelling skills by studying the histories of kings, poets, and philosophers. For 1001 nights, Scheherazade tells the harsh King Shahryar — embittered by his first wife’s infidelity — engaging stories, which entices him to fall in love with her and eventually trust women again.
Early Version (7/22/1992)
References
Modern Records/Atlantic Records (1998). The Enchanted Works of Stevie Nicks [press release].
White, T. (1998, April 18). Atlantic honors Stevie Nicks with lavish 3-CD ‘Enchanted’ anthology. Billboard.
< Inspiration | Thousand Days