|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
WEBMISTRESS speculates:
Again, "this game of winning," as Lindsey says in Make Me a Mask. This one's a little more down and dirty than most of Stevie's songs in that it seems to be throwing her lack of attachment in her lover's face. She seems proud of that fact that SHE will be the winner, and that he'll "never be the same" without her. She breezily tells him that even when she's with him physically, her mind is elsewhere (ouch!) then turns around and adds that when she's not with him he'll still feel her presence and think about her all the time. She justifies her seeming callousness with the proclamation that "nothing is fair in love and war" and so goes the battle to win that she and Lindsey always seem to be engaged in.
However, the last line is very interesting in this context. Throughout the song she seems very defiant, gleefully asserting her power in the relationship, how she will be the winner, mentioning how he'll never shake her but failing to mention if she's shaken him... until the last line. "I remember when you never said no." This line seems to belie the entire song. If he is refusing her, he is the one who has the power now. It's almost like Stevie, in her hurt, is lashing out at Lindsey, all the while knowing that the truth in the battle of "love and war" is that she did not come out unscathed either.
P.S. "Mix down" is a term used to refer to the process of making a multitrack recording into a stereo recording (so that you can listen to the product on a regular cassette tape). It's interesting in this context because Lindsey was always the one doing the "mix down" - maybe she felt it made it hard for her to "stand out." (What, did he turn down her vocals? Hehe.) Or, this could be in reference to their Buckingham Nicks years, when they tried so hard to stand out only to flop, and they (or at least Stevie) came close to giving up.
LISA speculates:
I think this is about the cutting of Silver Springs from the Rumours album. When she says "Mix down / live it up " she's referring to hearing the news that Silver Springs was getting cut, and she was very angry and ran into the studio parking lot (If memory serves me correctly) - feeling like she didn't want to join that party.
She goes on to say "It's hard enough just to stand out / and it's easy enough just to give it up" - thinking her songs are always hits, but the whole reason for her platform boots and wardrobe is to give her a better stage presence, alas, she is trying hard to stand out, and she does it well. She writes this great song, but it's "easy enough just to give it up" so it doesn't make Rumours.
Angry, she looks ahead into the future - perhaps she was thinking about her solo career at this point, beating Fleetwood Mac as a group "to the mountain", "beat them at [their] own game" - showing all of them. They would definitely never be the same without Stevie. In her private prophecy, perhaps she plans to clandestinely build a solo career, while remaining a member of FM, because after the release of Rumours, there will be a tour. So she's saying "I'll be there when I'm not there / and I'll be gone when you think that I'm with you" because she expects her departure to be sudden.
As for the second verse - "Running 'round in circles / well it sounds like she's in a circus / says the grandmother / something like that / says the father" - it sounds like she's seeing those involved as taunting her. She is seeing 'the grandmother' as leading the group in "Just look at Stevie - she is really acting up". I doubt she is thinking this of Chris, however. Although I do think she may refer to Chris telling her "What's fair anymore".
At the end of the chorus throughout the song, she says "I remember when it was everything" - perhaps alluding to her contributions to the albums being considered important, and when Silver Springs - probably a very important song to her - was cut, this led to the anger.
The ending line, "I remember when / you never said no" supplements this - as if to say "Hey, every time I give you guys a song, you think it's great... I'm giving you this song that is very important to me, and you're killing it".
So she tells FM to "throw the dice then" with whatever replaces Silver Springs.
NIKAYLA speculates:
I see that this song could be related to Stevie "lashing out" at Lindsey. But I also can see that it could in fact be her saying that even though she's not really there, she'll still be there. Even in her anger, even in the hurt she's feeling, has felt and will feel over the break-up she'll always love him. The line "Two can play at this game" could symbolize her telling him that, yes you hurt me, yes you broke my heart, but I'm not the only one who felt sorrow or hurt or pain because of this. Like she's saying "I broke your heart too. I know I did." When she says she's "Runnin' round in circles", she could be reflecting on how she felt after the break up. How she felt confused or didn't know what to do next. The line "it's hard enough just to stand out." could mean that towards the end of their tumultous relationship it was hard for her to stand out, or for her to be noticed, like he was ignoring her or something like that. As for the line "Go on, throw the dice then" I think she's saying, you know, go gamble with your heart, go out and date other girls, "go on have a go", just throw your heart away and then she says "I remember when it was everything" meaning I remember when you protected your heart or I remember when our love for each other was everything.