Love Changes
 

Written by S. Nicks
 

It wasn't that I didn't love you
I just couldn't make you see
That as hard as I tried
To make it all better
It was not better for me
The love that I gave you was all around you
There was nothing left for me
But I hate to say it
But I saw it coming
My feelings were changing

I only say what you want to hear
When there is a conflict
I stay clear
When he was loving I was in tears
He knows my fears

I wish I could figure a way around this
She says..."Like a sad song"
I don't understand the way that I feel
I am terrified of being wrong
Well, I am not happy
And I am not crazy
Are you listening, do you hear?
Everything happens for a reason
Stay clear

I only say what you want to hear
When there is a conflict
I stay clear
When he was loving I was in tears
He knows my fears

When love changes in the flash of an eye
It leaves people burnin' by the side of the road
You stand there you got nothing to hold
For the first time you are alone
For the first time you are alone

It wasn't that I didn't love you
But I just couldn't make you see
That as hard as I tried to make it all better
It was not better for me
The love that I gave you was all around you
There was nothing left for me
But I hate to say it
But I saw it coming
My feelings were changing

I only say what you want to hear
When there is a conflict
I stay clear
When he was loving I was in tears
He knows my fears

When love changes in the flash of an eye
It leaves people burnin' by the side of the road
You stand there you got nothing to hold
For the first time you are alone
For the first time you are alone

That don't mend the sorrow
Or reinvent the pleasure
Mend the sorrow
Reinvent the pleasure
Oh, no
That don't mend the sorrow
Reinvent the pleasure...

 

WEBMISTRESS speculates:

I really like this song. It's about, again, the breakdown of her relationship with Lindsey, and, again, about how she "changed," as she says in so many of her songs (as in Planets of the Universe from this album). Also, the idea that she did indeed love him despite the fact that she left him is found in many of her other songs as well (like Silver Springs). Then we get a glimpse of a fundamental problem - she must "say what [he wants] to hear", he's the one in control - she can't stand it. Even though she knows he loves her, it wasn't enough to make up for her feeling of powerlessness.

The way she talks about the devastation Lindsey undergoes as a result of the break-up - the shockingly effective "burning by the side of the road" imagery - telling him he's "got nothing to hold...for the first time [he] is alone" - talking about how she "saw it coming" - about how he can't "mend the sorrow" or "reinvent the pleasure" - this is all so harsh! Like in Planets of the Universe, she seems to be almost triumphing that she had such an effect on him... or, at least, is indifferent to his suffering. I think one of the things Trouble in Shangri-La documents, however, is Stevie's growth\ from a bitter and petty person to a mature adult. Hopefully, she's learned from her mistakes.

 

Trouble in Shangri-La | SN Albums