Forsaken Love (Mistaken Love)

Written by S. Nicks

My soul has soared, I have reached great heights But the ground is further than I thought I'm afraid of falling, this is a strange feeling I fear I have given up I never did love easily But I easily loved you And I loved with such intensity As the sea moves with the moon Taken love Taken love Taken love I've ridden with you within the wind As I am riding away with you now I'm beginning to understand your pain And it forces me to withdraw And now the tears dry on my face And leave behind them only ashes And the beauty of you was just a dream Of memories, earthquakes, and flashes Flashes, flashes, flashes, flashes, flashes Forsaken love Taken love Mistaken love I waited, love I waited, love I waited I waited And you know I waited I waited Because I wanted You know I wanted I wanted I've ridden with you beyond the wind As I'm riding away from you now Now, now

 


WEBMISTRESS speculates:

This song has that theme of "sometimes love ain't enough." Here, of course, I'm just gonna posit that she's talking about Lindsey, and I don't think that's too much of a stretch, considering the lyrics. She fell in love with him easily, it was a stong and intense love, but at the time this was written (c. 1975) it's going bad, turning into frustration and pain. She feels herself growing more and more distant, "riding away." The next few lines detail how hard it is for her to do that....she's crying, she understands the pain he's going through, and I think she regrets causing it. Still, it's only a memory now, but a memory filled with "earthquakes and flashes." He was really something, but it was still "mistaken love"....despite the fact that she wanted it, and waited as long as she could, hoping it would somehow work out.

 

BPRYDERI speculates:

Sad, a break-up song. About whom? The possiblities are endless. I would guess Lindsey, but more likely this song is about all of Stevie's "Mistaken Loves" all rolled into a ball of heartache. I think this song has a lot of regret compiled from all the failed love affairs in Stevie's life. "Of memories, earthquakes and flashes..." It makes the listener feel all of the emotions of their own past heartaches, and really sympathize with Stevie.

 

MIKE speculates:

One very interesting thing about this song is how Stevie changes the lyrics in some versions. I especially love where she changes the lines in the second verse to: "I've ridden with you beyond the wind, but I'm riding away from you now." To me, this reinforces the line about how understanding his pain is forcing Stevie to withdraw. This song has so much striking imagery.

BTW, this song was copyrighted in 1978 as "Forsaken Love" [WM: Title changed accordingly]. The Master Reel it is on is labeled "Stevie Nicks Movie Project", presumably the RHIANNON film that Stevie was to star in. The other songs on this Master Reel from March 1978 are "Rhiannon" and "Blue Water". I find it hard to think that "Blue Water" is a Rhiannon Myth-inspired song. "Forsaken Love", however, does seem to fit with the mystical imagery.

 

HENRY speculates:

This song seems to have been written for the movie of Rhiannon. Even though written and recorded 1975 perhaps to 1978, she could be using it as a fantasy love. Stevie in the past has remarked that some of her songs are out of pure fantasy, her own imagination. It is possible that someone, not necessarily Lindsey, could or who would take her to "great heights" of love... and afraid of the crashing loss that would follow.


 

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