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WEBMISTRESS speculates:
From the title and the timing and the line about "little pieces," I assume that Stevie is referring to the fall of the Berlin Wall. But what is she saying about it? That I don't know. The song seems to be about a woman who's lived her life "the best that [she] can." She's had problems, she "paid a price," she hasn't won or lost, and she's lonely. Anyone who asks thinks she's doing fine, but when she's locked away she cries "silent [...] tears." She really is "distressed," "devastated," and wishing she could change the way she is. Still, she takes what fortune gives her and does the best she can.
KELLY speculates:
I think it's Stevie thinking back to the break up with Lindsey. In the first few lines, it was one for him, three for her. So already, he's feelin' cheated. He's not gettin the kudos, even though he plays the chops, runs the band, tweaks her songs. She knows he resents her, she can feel it building up. She knew in her secret heart that it was coming, she's saying she should have listened to her heart, instead of holdin' on (like most women do). So "she was silent, locked away".
If you see some of the early footage of Fleetwood Mac recording sessions, Mick and the others will say (especially for Rumours) she was so quiet and she just shut herself in a room and wrote songs. Christine (I think) was very snide and jealous over Stevie. In that recording enviroment, wrought with so much tension from creative clashes of the band to her own break up to the breakup of Christine and John McVie, she's saying "It's outta my hands here." She's explaining that she felt guilty for the break up. In her distress, she wanted someone to blame her, but all she heard was "whispered secrets that went on and on". So she made that choice, to leave him (without really leaving him), she threw the cards, made her decision. And, hey, it may not have been the absolute best thing to do, but she had to do something. And now she's doin' the best that she can. It hasn't killed her, she's gettin' on with life, doin' the best that she can. It's a lesson song, listen to your inner voice and get on with it, do the best you can with what you've got.
ART speculates:
Instead of this being yet another story about her twisted and tormented relationship with Lindsey, I believe this is one of many songs on "The Other Side of the Mirror" that deal with Stevie's crash and burn and subsequent visit to the Betty Ford Center. Stevie is looking back to the depths of her drug addiction and the effect it had on those around her, and the music industry at large. "And the whispered secrets go on and on/No one says anything to anyone" is clearly about the gossip surrounding Stevie at the time of 1985-86, and "I didn't win or lose, I just threw the cards" seems to say that Stevie simply gave up and went to rehab, but not necessarily realizing the benefits of it.
"Fate causes fortune/And fortune takes it away" is Stevie's plaintive take on the effects of stardom. "I was silent/I was locked away" sounds to be literally about being locked up in her room at the clinic, and the following lyrics about "In my distress/Well I wanted someone to blame me" are the kind of things Stevie sat thinking about on the road to recovery.
Finally, the ending stanzas about how "I hear she's doing fine and she's doing the best that she can" are post-rehab. People aren't sure about Stevie's "recovery" as evidenced by the halfhearted way she describes people's reactions. Notice how she doesn't say "We're glad you're back to the way you were," or "Better than ever," because she knows and they know there's lots of work left to be done.
This song to me is very poignant and very telling because it seems in sync with what actually was going on at the time in Stevie's life of late 1986-early 1987. Stevie has said in numerous interviews that everyone thought she was going to go back on cocaine after leaving Betty Ford and thus they pushed her into the horrible mistake of going to see a certain psychiatrist. The psychiatrist, as has been well documented, prescribed Klonopin, a tranquilizer that eventually sapped Stevie's creativity and led to another, more painful stint in rehab seven years later.
Stevie often, or even usually, writes about Lindsey, but not here. I heard in a radio interview once that during the recording of "The Other Side of the Mirror" Stevie specifically asked Rupert Hine not to fiddle with this song, though he had carte blanche to do whatever he wanted with the other prospective tracks. This is one of Stevie's most personal and moving cries for help, and sometimes the "drug songs" as I call them, i.e., Alice, Kick It, Welcome to the Room ... Sara, don't get the respect they deserve.
JERRY speculates:
First is about having sex. Then it goes on to doing drugs. It hints to what happens as a result of having sex and doing drugs and the price you pay. It ends with getting off drugs.