Real Tears

 

Written by S. Nicks
 

There was another girl
She was much like you
She lived in the past
And had trouble with the future
Well, she walked with her head held high
And her hands held down at her sides

It was everything that I had not wanted
There were reasons to be crazy

Make no mistake about it
(When she stopped crying her eyes got bright)
Make no mistake about it 
(She walked with her head held high
And her hands held down at her sides)
Make no mistake about it
(Make no mistake about it...those were real tears)
Make no mistake about it
(Make no mistake about it...I've always been unreal)

And you walked a thousand miles in a few weeks
Very little love exists through the rain and the fog
In her always hanging mirror

It was everything that I had not wanted
There were reasons to be crazy

Make no mistake about it
(When she stopped crying her eyes got bright)
Make no mistake about it 
(She walked with her head held high
And her hands held down at her sides)
Make no mistake about it
( Make no mistake about it...those were real tears)
Make no mistake about it
(Make no mistake about it...I've always been unreal)

She takes a lot of time sometimes
It takes a lot of time to know her
She will disappear before you
Right in front of your very eyes

Down through the years
She has accepted her life
With her hands held down in fear
Take a tear of a rose and push it into your hands
These are real tears

Make no mistake about it
(When she stopped crying her eyes got bright)
Make no mistake about it 
(She walked with her head held high
And her hands held down at her sides)
Make no mistake about it
(Make no mistake about it...those were real tears)
Make no mistake about it
(Make no mistake about it...I've always been unreal)

It was everything I had not wanted 
Whoa, there were reasons to be crazy
And all the reasons
Well, that she was just like you
So she keeps them in her heart
So she keeps them in her heart...

 

WEBMISTRESS speculates:

This song is a little hard to interpret specifically but, in general, it is about a woman who's had a hard life; she was proud, but her circumstances constrained her; "she lived in the past and had trouble with the future". I believe the "you" is Lindsey - they had a lot of shared experiences and problems. Her life was going wrong, and it made her crazy, but it wasn't over nothing that she was falling apart. She's not faking, she's just "always been unreal", but "make no mistake about it" - she can be hurt like anyone else - she cries "real tears." She realizes she is hard to get to know, and she accepts the bad along with the good in her life, but that doesn't mean she won't still get frustrated, get a little "crazy" and cry "real tears."

 

SPARKTIVITIE speculates:

I think this is about Stevie looking in the mirror when she was in
rehab for coke, and she is saying you used to be someone else what happened to you? and she is saying to herself I have accepted all this pain and all my mistakes. The girl you used to be may have changed, but these tears I cry are true and I'm crying them for both of us. So I'm going to get better and get out of here and we will remember this and keep it in our heart.

 

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