Try for the Sun
 

 Written by D. Leitch; Adapted by L. Buckingham

We huddled in the derelict building My gypsy girl and I We made our bed together With the rain dropping tears in our eyes And who would be the one To say it was no good what we done? I dare anyone to say, anyone to say we were too young We were only trying for the sun Mirror, mirror in the sky Won't you look what’s happening below No one knows what’s going on Won't you give us a sign where to go? And who would be the one To say it was no good what we done? I dare anyone to say, anyone to say we were too young We were only trying for the sun And who would be the one To say it was no good what we done? I dare anyone to say, anyone to say we were too young We were only trying for the sun We were only trying for the sun We were only trying for the sun Mirror, mirror in the sky Won't you look what’s happening below Nobody knows what’s going on Won't you you give us a sign where to go?


WEBMISTRESS speculates:

This is actually inspired by a song written by Donovan in 1965 originally titled "To Try for the Sun". Its lyrics are amazingly applicable to Lindsey and Stevie, something Lindsey obviously noticed and took advantage of. He changed around the tune a bit and made a few lyrical adjustments to fit his perspective and went to town. Here are the lyrics for the original:

We stood in the windy city
The gypsy boy and I
We slept on the breeze in the midnight
With the rain dropping tears in our eyes

And who’s going to be the one
To say it was no good what we done
I dare a man to say I’m too young
For I’m going to try for the sun

We huddled in the derelict building
And when he thought I was asleep
He lay his poor coat round my shoulders
And shivered there beside me in a heap

And who’s going to be the one
To say it was no good what we done
I dare a man to say I’m too young
For I’m going to try for the sun

We sang and cracked the sky with laughter
Our breath turned to mist in the cold
Our years put together count to thirty
But our eyes told the dawn we were old

And who’s going to be the one
To say it was no good what we done
I dare a man to say I’m too young
For I’m going to try for the sun

Mirror mirror hanging in the sky
Won’t you look down what’s happening here below
I stand here singing to the flowers
So very few people really know

And who’s going to be the one
To say it was no good what we done
I dare a man to say I’m too young
For I’m going to try for the sun

We stood in the windy city
The gypsy boy and I
We slept on the breeze in the midnight
With the rain dropping tears in our eyes

And who’s going to be the one
To say it was no good what we done
I dare a man to say I’m too young
For I’m going to try for the sun

I believe that by using this song in the way he did, Lindsey is openly and directly singing about Stevie. I also believe that Lindsey did this in It Was I on Law and Order. The big difference here is that instead of covering a song that's angry he's recording one that's positive.

I can understand why he's been reluctant to bring up the issue of Stevie in past songs, since he was the "wronged party", so to speak. Therefore, while Stevie has never felt a compunction to stop referring to Lindsey in songs, even ones she's covered (as in Blue Eyes), he was no doubt reluctant to do the same. It would imply an emotional attachment to her (even if an angry one) - and he didn't want to give the impression that he still gave a hoot about Stevie in any way after so many years had passed! Re-working a cover is a nice way around this awkward situation, while still openly involving Stevie positively in a song.

And now that they've matured he can look back with some perspective and not be afraid to refer to his Stevie-related experiences in songs. After all, those were pretty significant, formative, defining experiences - starting out so young, struggling together, then hitting the big time. Huge events in one's life, which shouldn't be ignored simply because it all fell apart in the end.

Now, let's look at just how much this song works for Lindsey (keeping in mind what he's changed).

We stood in the windy city
The gypsy boy and I
We slept on the breeze in the midnight
With the rain dropping tears in our eyes

Lindsey does a little combo version of this verse and the next, taking the first line of the second verse and subsituting it for the first line of the first verse. I think this was a little oversight! But regardless, this verse no doubt reminded him of himself and Stevie back when they were Buckingham Nicks, the picture of poverty despite their affluent childhoods in suburbia. They were really struggling - and Stevie especially was discouraged, talking about quitting and going back to college.

I love the line he changed from "slept on the breeze at midnight" to "We made our bed together" - his version can be taken in the literal way (making the bed in the building) - figurative (slept together) - colloquial ("you've made your bed, now lie in it" - you've gotten yourselves into this mess and now you have to take the consequences.) Very adept wordplay!

Now for the chorus:

And who’s going to be the one
To say it was no good what we done
I dare a man to say I’m too young
For I’m going to try for the sun

Again, totally applicable to Buckingham Nicks. People, perhaps their parents (especially the Nickses, apparently) are saying that they're too young to go out on their own like this, to try to "break into" an unforgiving business. In the eyes of their concerned and perhaps a bit doubtful parents, they probably seemed to be flushing their lives down the toilet (Stevie says her parents thought she would become disillusioned and bitter like her failed musician grandfather, "Burnt out at 23."). The anger and defiance expressed in the original "I dare a man to say I'm too young" probably is very close to what Lindsey was feeling when he heard such talk. Notice he changes the "I" to "we", and the present tense to past tense - "We were too young/We were only trying for the sun." While they were together in the past, he and Stevie were just trying to "chase that pot of gold" together, follow their dreams, even if that meant suffering - at least they were trying.

Final verse Lindsey uses (skipping over the others):

Mirror mirror hanging in the sky
Won’t you look down what’s happening here below
I stand here singing to the flowers
So very few people really know.

"Mirror in the sky." Sound familiar? By taking out a word from the original, you have a line from Landslide. This is stunning applicable, as Landslide was written in Aspen, after Stevie had a huge fight with Lindsey. The time period: a few months before THE call came, when time was running out and Stevie had set a time limit - "If we don't make it in six months I'm going back to college."

In this song, there is a different kind of appeal to that mirror - not "What is love?" but "What's happening to us?" Again, this relates to Buckingham Nicks: their future was very uncertain, nothing was turning out like he'd hoped, Stevie was wanting to quit, everything was falling apart.

With regard to Buckingham Nicks, however, there's another question: "What's GOING to happen to us?" Lindsey changes the lyrics to reflect that by taking "I stand here singing to the flowers/ So very few people really know" to "Nobody knows what's going on/Won't you give us a sign where to go". Should they really just give up? Or should they keep trying for the sun? We know how the story ends - they did indeed get that "sign" from Mick Fleetwood. That change gives this covered song even more personal layers. Altogether, the song in this context is really emotionally affecting and powerful.

 

Under the Skin | LB Albums