Deep Track Download Thursday: “If I Were You” – Stevie Nicks

Sometimes in the midst of madness and insanity, one can find a gem. This is so with Stevie Nicks‘ 1985 album track If I Were You from her album Rock A Little.

If I Were You is a plea to a lover to stay. However, what makes this track stand out the most is that, unlike some of the songs on Rock A Little (such as Imperial Hotel, Rock A Little, and The Nightmare) you can coherently hear what Ms. Nicks is saying. It is quite clear she was on alot of cocaine when she made this album, but somehow we got this little gem.

The other thing that makes this track stand out is that it seems to take a detour from all the synthesizers and 80’s cheesiness that made this album terrible. Rather it’s an updated homage to the overall sound that made her famous in the first place.

Bravo!

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Stevie Nicks sheds her rocker persona with “Rock A Little”

Stevie Nicks has proven herself to be the most powerful woman in rock & roll. However, even rocks Gold Dust Woman has her “what was she thinking” moments. Rock A Little perhaps is one of these.

Rock A Little is a little like her previous release, the 1983 classic The Wild Heart albeit with a more 80’s pop feel. It fits Nicks much like a fashion accessory – too many of them break the overall outfit. The title track, “Rock A Little (Go Ahead Lily),” is one of those tracks. The lyrics scream rock song or at least a power ballad, but instead it is a slower song. Either way, neither song nor lyric fit each other.

“The Nightmare” is a completely senseless song. Though it has a great beat, it’s like she was on quite a bit of drugs when she recorded it. The same goes for other songs such as “I Sing For Things” – which would be an enjoyable track had Nicks not been on drugs, thus slurring her words. She does this on many of the tracks. Shortly after the Rock A Little tour, she famously entered the Betty Ford Clinic for treatment for a cocaine addiction.

However, “I Can’t Wait” is almost like an updated version of the classic smash “Stand Back.” A surprise track that the Wild Heart loves is “If I Were You” – a ballad that is a plea to a significant other to stay in the relationship. It is a beautiful, yet uptempo, ballad. “Sister Honey” is a rare almost-dance track from Stevie Nicks. It is a great album cut. One of the best album tracks is “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You” – a song written for then-boyfriend and member of the Eagles Joe Walsh, who had suffered the loss of his young daughter due to injuries in an automobile accident en route to nursery school in 1974. Walsh took Nicks to the water fountain that she frequented when she was alive to show Nicks that her problems and pain were nothing compared to the hell he has put up with.

Overall the Wild Heart can only recommend this album if either a) you want to show your children what music on drugs sounds like or b) you are a die-heart Stevie Nicks fan. Otherwise, only download a few tracks and nothing more.