Starshine

Written by S. Nicks

Starshine
Woah, you used to be silver
Love line, love affair
Well, you used to make me shiver
He said, "Woah, this is the price that we finally pay"
I said, "I don't believe you
I need you, I need you to stay"
She said, "Baby, we've been together for such a long time"
And I said, ooh, I said
"Playing with fire was wrong"

You used to be silver
Love line, love affair
You used to make me shiver
Woah, this is the price that I finally pay
I said, "Well, I don't believe you
Well, I need you, I need you to stay"
She said, "But we've been together for..."
Well, I said, "Playing with fire was
Playing with fire was..."

This is the price that we finally....

Starshine
Well, you used to be silver
Ooh, now, you used to be silver
Love line, love affair
Well, you used to make me shiver
He said, "Baby, this is the price that we finally pay"
I said, "I don't believe you
And I need you, and I need you to stay"
She said, "But we've been together for, for so long"
Well, I said, well, I said
"Playing with fire was wrong"

You used to be silver
Long, long, run away on down
You used to make me shiver
Run away, run away
Won't you run away from me, baby
Well, I told you what to do with your life
But you could not save me
I told you what to do with your life
But you did not save me
Starshine...

WEBMISTRESS speculates:

Of course, I think she's talking about Lindsey, but there IS a basis for this assumption! I think when she says "Starshine...you used to be silver" she is talking about how she used to almost worship Lindsey- like in Long Distance Winner, when she compares him to a brightly burning "blue-white fire." She has said in interviews that when they were Buckingham Nicks, she would do all the "grunt work" to get money while he stayed at home and perfected their music - and she said the reason she did that was because she thought he was such a musical genius that he shouldn't have to deal with distractions like getting a job at the local Bob's Big Boy. She really thought the world of him... and apparently he was good at more than music, 'cause he "used to make [her] shiver"!

And then, they hit the big time with FM, and it ended. So, when "he says, 'this is the price that we finally pay,'" I believe what he is referring to is the price of fame. She argues with him, she says that you don't have to give up love to get success or vice versa. She wants him to stay, they've been together for years....it can't be ending! (OK, I realize this is not exactly how it really went down because we all know who left whom, but this is the sentiment in the song, anyway. Perhaps she's referring to her own conflicting feelings about leaving?) Anyway, in the end, playing with that fascinating blue-white fire was "wrong"....she got burned.

 

RUISRYAN speculates:

I tend to think this song has something to do with the affair Stevie and Mick had. "He said... she said... I said" I think that accurately forms the triangle between Stevie, Mick, and Sara (Mick's ex-wife). Also, she says "Well you used to be silver" which I think refers to the fact that she and Mick were not willing to break Fleetwood Mac up so that they could be together. Also, in the part where she says "you used to make me shiver" refers to the part of their affair, in which Mick describes as "Had all the secret naughtiness that we wanted" (however I do not think this is word for word how he said it, but you get the point.)