“What the hell is he doing?”: The album Christine initially hated - Page 2

Macfan4life · #16 04-10-2024, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Villavic

Ricky is a song I never include in my playlists. I do include Skies. Not her best work but I like it. It's funny and interesting at the same time how many of us think so differently.

Skies got all the elements of a good Mac and Chris song.
Vintage McVie keyboard opening
Mick's crack of the drum
Nice melody
Great harmonies of all 4 singers
Catchy chorus
Uplifting
Love song
She's acting peculiar and strange again because she is head over heals in love with him

I never liked the line "we can hit on a nail" That never seemed McVie to me. Its as if she needed a word to rhyme with fail. "Guys give me a word that rhymes with fail" She sought out advice and Rick or Billy yelled out "NAIL"
I could never imagine Chris as a carpenter. Maybe Billy though

DownOnRodeo · #17 04-10-2024, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

I never liked the line "we can hit on a nail" That never seemed McVie to me. Its as if she needed a word to rhyme with fail. "Guys give me a word that rhymes with fail" She sought out advice and Rick or Billy yelled out "NAIL"

"Hit it on the nail" is a variant of the English cliche "hit a nail on the head" and I actually like that line in the song and its delivery. Like you say it's a fun uplifting song and also a confident one, which that line exemplifies.

I respect your zealous defense of the song title but I don't think anyone disagrees that "skies" is a legitimate word in English. The grating issues for me are that:
- the phrase doesn't appear in the song (rather, a similar but different phrase ("the sky is the limit") appears ad nauseum)
- even if they used singular in the song and plural in the title for some reason, it should probably be "Skies Are The Limit", as it reads as unnaturally abbreviated without the verb to be
- or if they wanted to keep it singular but contract it for the title, it should have been "Sky's The Limit"
The end result is a feeling that the track was titled by one of the engineers or someone else who was one step removed from the writing process.
Having said that, after looking at the alternatives above, I agree that they do look a bit clunky compared to "Skies The Limit", grammar issues notwithstanding.

Macfan4life · #18 04-11-2024, 04:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DownOnRodeo

"Hit it on the nail" is a variant of the English cliche "hit a nail on the head" and I actually like that line in the song and its delivery. Like you say it's a fun uplifting song and also a confident one, which that line exemplifies.

I respect your zealous defense of the song title but I don't think anyone disagrees that "skies" is a legitimate word in English. The grating issues for me are that:
- the phrase doesn't appear in the song (rather, a similar but different phrase ("the sky is the limit") appears ad nauseum)
- even if they used singular in the song and plural in the title for some reason, it should probably be "Skies Are The Limit", as it reads as unnaturally abbreviated without the verb to be
- or if they wanted to keep it singular but contract it for the title, it should have been "Sky's The Limit"
The end result is a feeling that the track was titled by one of the engineers or someone else who was one step removed from the writing process.
Having said that, after looking at the alternatives above, I agree that they do look a bit clunky compared to "Skies The Limit", grammar issues notwithstanding.

I was aware of the cliche "hit it on the nail" and its reference to hit the nail on the head. I was just saying that line for some reason is my only weakness on in the song. That critique is even an exaggeration on my part.
I really dont think the title of one of Chris's songs would be given by a sound engineer. The issue I have is people thinking its grammatically wrong or a mistake as you allege.
First there is nothing wrong with skies since it refers to the heavens above the sky before space. Its also the plural of sky which could mean the sky in different places. A love in Europe and a love in the States. Even though its grammatically correct rock and roll is full of clever titles and even words purposely spelled wrong. Sort of like when Stevie got angry at Lindsey for correcting her tenses. Yes its true her and Dylan do change several tenses throughout their songs. But that is rock and roll. The words "Smells like teen spirt" were never in the song either. Many titles of songs dont appear as lyrics in songs.
Could it be an accident where someone intended on Sky's but instead picked the word skies instead? Possible. But when people start picking apart songs because words are not in titles, the tenses change in songs or lyrics are run on sentences annoy me because its fuddy old English professors criticizing rock songs while their favorite poets do the exact same thing. Would you say that to Emily Dickenson? I was in horror many years ago that people were writing on this site the issues with Hold Me and parts of the song were not written in perfect English and should have been changed. That is horrifying

Now what I have written here is tongue and cheek like what I wrote above. I am not being over zealous which I am accused of lots around here. I am inserting some humor and common sense only. Now I ask you. Would you say this to Bob Dylan if he wrote a song Skies the Limit?
Steve had a theory awhile ago that the word Skies was taken from an airline commercial that was sponsoring the Mac tour in 1990. Was it clever on purpose or an unintended accident or done to purposely annoy people. I simply do not care

We may never know the mystery of the song. I only have a theory. There are countless songs and poems called "The Sky Is The Limit." That is the phrase that is sung in the song, no? I don't think she ever sings Sky's The Limit which would still irk people because its a title that is not sung in the song. I think it was purposely done for copyright reasons. Its not lumped in with all the other songs named The Sky Is The Limit. There is only one Skies The Limit. I think Chris went out of her way to not call the song The Sky Is The Limit even though that is what she wrote and sings. But my guess is like yours, just a guess. They mystery and the annoyance from some people just makes me like the song more

.

DownOnRodeo · #19 04-11-2024, 06:08 AM

You know how you see set lists written by roadies sometimes, that are pasted on the stage, with abbreviations and misspellings in song titles? My guess has always been that someone in the band or in the studio wrote the title like that in some stage of the recording process and they decided to keep it like that as they got used to it or though it was more pithy or catchy or, like you say, unique.

Re poets, maybe Stevie was jealous that Lindsey was almost asked to join Dylan in the Wilburys.

Villavic · #20 04-11-2024, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

I never liked the line "we can hit on a nail" That never seemed McVie to me. Its as if she needed a word to rhyme with fail. "Guys give me a word that rhymes with fail" She sought out advice and Rick or Billy yelled out "NAIL"
I could never imagine Chris as a carpenter. Maybe Billy though

I knew hit on a nail was an expression, but in case she wrote it mainly for rhyme reasons, I think it's ok. Sometimes authors wrote words that actually does not make complete sense, but the message is understood anyway. As Don Henley say "it's just a song!" when they criticized him because wine is not a spirit. Spirits are distilled beverages, and wine is a fermented.

So I called up the captain
Please bring me my wine, he said
"We haven't had that spirit here since 1969"

Macfan4life · #21 04-11-2024, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Villavic

I knew hit on a nail was an expression, but in case she wrote it mainly for rhyme reasons, I think it's ok. Sometimes authors wrote words that actually does not make complete sense, but the message is understood anyway. As Don Henley say "it's just a song!" when they criticized him because wine is not a spirit. Spirits are distilled beverages, and wine is a fermented.

So I called up the captain
Please bring me my wine, he said
"We haven't had that spirit here since 1969"

I think its ok. It works and fits. Its my only mild criticism. The Brits pull out all sorts of expressions that Americans know but may not use that much.
I heard on Dick Clark's countdown show in late 1990 that Skies The Limit was a last edition to the album and written quickly. Maybe its my knowledge of that that also makes me feel the music and lyrics were written rather quickly. I think it shows. But that is a compliment because it shows that even in a pinch, Chris could write a fairly good song rather quickly with the intent of putting one of her trademark signature peppy songs on the album. After first playback, the band felt the album was too dark and missing a Chris peppy love song. No fear, slap this first track on side one, problem solved? Well maybe

To your other point, Don Henley is 100% correct when people dissect a rock and roll song for technical accuracies. Good grief. Yeah ok, wine is not a spirit and Hotel California is a horrible song because of that reason

I want to know how the sky never expects it when it rains in the sea?
Throw them all out!

In Never Ever Changes, I swear Stevie at the end throws in several Nothing Never changes, no it doesnt. Good grief. A double negative in a rock song. Cancel the Wild Heart immediately!

Villavic · #22 04-11-2024, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Villavic

I knew hit on a nail was an expression, but in case she wrote it mainly for rhyme reasons, I think it's ok. Sometimes authors wrote words that actually does not make complete sense, but the message is understood anyway. As Don Henley say "it's just a song!" when they criticized him because wine is not a spirit. Spirits are distilled beverages, and wine is a fermented.

So I called up the captain
Please bring me my wine, he said
"We haven't had that spirit here since 1969"

On second thoughts, I don't think Stevie would agree with this, about the shackin' up phrase.

Macfan4life · #23 04-11-2024, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DownOnRodeo

You know how you see set lists written by roadies sometimes, that are pasted on the stage, with abbreviations and misspellings in song titles? My guess has always been that someone in the band or in the studio wrote the title like that in some stage of the recording process and they decided to keep it like that as they got used to it or though it was more pithy or catchy or, like you say, unique.

Re poets, maybe Stevie was jealous that Lindsey was almost asked to join Dylan in the Wilburys.

Thats a good theory. Someone must ask Billy this question and he can solve the mystery. But then again he may not know either since was it not him and Rick could not remember much about the album cover for BTM.

Ok now for some funny things I found online.

McVie wrote "Skies the Limit" as an upbeat "rally song" with the intention of offsetting some Behind the Mask tracks that she believed were too depressing. "Everything was getting to the point of where it was a downer album. It sounded like this was a potential suicide band, which it wasn't. I decided to write a song that was really up, it was a rally song."

GQ labeled "Skies the Limit" as one of the ten best post-Rumours songs, saying that "the misspelled opening from the album" is "the only truly memorable song from the album"

LMAO

**jbrownsjr** · #24 04-11-2024, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

Thats a good theory. Someone must ask Billy this question and he can solve the mystery. But then again he may not know either since was it not him and Rick could not remember much about the album cover for BTM.

Ok now for some funny things I found online.

McVie wrote "Skies the Limit" as an upbeat "rally song" with the intention of offsetting some Behind the Mask tracks that she believed were too depressing. "Everything was getting to the point of where it was a downer album. It sounded like this was a potential suicide band, which it wasn't. I decided to write a song that was really up, it was a rally song."

GQ labeled "Skies the Limit" as one of the ten best post-Rumours songs, saying that "the misspelled opening from the album" is "the only truly memorable song from the album"

LMAO

I thought Christine's songs were really really good. She just kept getting stronger. I did not like Skies at all. I love it now. Listening in headphones with the atmos, lossless Apple stuff really shows me what she was trying to do, and succeeded.

I hear it different now. Still have a problem with the trolly sounding keys, but then I understand them, too.

Macfan4life · #25 04-11-2024, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

I thought Christine's songs were really really good. She just kept getting stronger. I did not like Skies at all. I love it now. Listening in headphones with the atmos, lossless Apple stuff really shows me what she was trying to do, and succeeded.

I hear it different now. Still have a problem with the trolly sounding keys, but then I understand them, too.

Seriously......how can we fail