Edge of Seventeen

This article is about the Stevie Nicks song. For the 1998 film, see Edge of Seventeen (film). For the 2016 film, see The Edge of Seventeen. For the short story, see Alexandra Sokoloff.
"Edge of Seventeen"
Single by Stevie Nicks
from the album Bella Donna
B-side "Edge of Seventeen" (Previously unreleased live version)
Released February 1982
Format 7"
Genre Rock
Length 5:28 (LP version)
4:10 (Single edit)
Label Modern
Writer(s) Stevie Nicks
Producer(s) Jimmy Iovine
Stevie Nicks singles chronology
"Leather and Lace"
(1981)		 "Edge of Seventeen"
(1982)		 "After the Glitter Fades"
(1982)

"Edge of Seventeen" is a song by American singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks from her solo debut studio album Bella Donna (1981), released as the third single from Bella Donna on February 1982. The song was written by Nicks to express the grief resulting from the death of her uncle Jonathan and the murder of John Lennon during the same week of December 1980 and features a distinctive, chugging 16th-note guitar riff, and a simple chord structure typical of Nicks' songs.

In the United States, "Edge of Seventeen" just missed out on the top-ten of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number eleven. Despite not reaching the top-ten, it became one of Nicks' most enduring and recognizable songs and has been covered by many artists, notably American actress and singer Lindsay Lohan on her second studio album A Little More Personal (Raw) (2005). The distinctive riff was sampled by American R&B trio Destiny's Child in their number-one song "Bootylicious" (2001), with Nicks making a cameo appearance in the "Bootylicious" music video playing a guitar.[1]

Background and inspiration

According to Stevie Nicks, the title came from a conversation she had with Tom Petty's first wife Jane, about the couple's first meeting. Jane said they met "at the age of seventeen", but her strong Southern accent made it sound like "edge of seventeen" to Nicks. The singer liked the sound of the phrase so much that she told Jane she would write a song for it and give her credit for the inspiration.[2]

Although Nicks had originally planned to use the title for a song about Tom and Jane Petty,[3] the deaths of both her uncle Jonathan and John Lennon during the same week of December 1980 inspired a new song for which Nicks used the title. Nicks' producer and friend Jimmy Iovine, was a close friend of Lennon and Nicks felt helpless to comfort him. Soon after, Nicks flew home to Phoenix, Arizona to be with her uncle Jonathan, who was dying of cancer. She remained with her uncle and his family until his death.[4]

Composition and lyrics

Throughout the song a distinctive 16th note guitar riff is played by Waddy Wachtel, progressing through C, D, and E-minor chords. During the bridge, the chords alternate twice between E-minor and C. Wachtel claimed[5] that The Police's "Bring on the Night" was the inspiration for the riff. This claim is further backed up in Andy Summers memoir One Train Later when he states that Stevie Nicks asked to meet him after a 1981 show in Los Angeles. As is typical of Nicks' songs, the lyrics are highly symbolic. Nicks has said that the white winged dove shall represent the spirit leaving the body on death, and some of the verses capture her experience of the days leading up to her uncle Jonathan's death.[6] The part in the song that has Nicks and her back-up singers singing "ooh baby ooh" is meant to sound like a dove singing, similar to an owl "whooing".

Perhaps appropriate for a song named for a mondegreen, "Edge of Seventeen" has been cited frequently as a source of misheard lyrics since its release. The line "Just like a white winged dove" is sometimes misheard.[7][8][9][10]

Chart performance

"Edge of Seventeen" peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the live version on the B-side reached number 26 on Billboard's Top Mainstream Rock Songs chart. The original LP version had previously made the top-five of Billboard's Top Mainstream Rock Songs chart in 1981, peaking at number four. "Edge of Seventeen" also peaked at number 11 on the Canada Top Singles chart.

Track listing and formats

  1. "Edge of Seventeen (Just Like the White Winged Dove)" – 4:10
  2. "Edge of Seventeen" (Previously unreleased live version) – 5:57

Credits and personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1981–82) Peak
position
Canada (RPM)[11] 11
US Billboard Hot 100 11
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard) 4

"Edge of Seventeen" was used in both the movie School of Rock (2003) and the ensuing Broadway musical as the favorite song of the female principal of a high school.[12] "Edge of Seventeen" also appeared on the in-game radio station Liberty Rock Radio 97.8, from the popular video game Grand Theft Auto IV (2008).

References

  1. ↑ Video on YouTube
  2. ↑ "Old Trivia Questions". Retrieved 2007-09-11. She was telling me about Tom, about when she met him, and she has an incredible Southern accent ... and she said that she met him at the age of seventeen, but I thought she said 'edge,' and she said 'no ... age' and I said, 'Jane, forget it, it's got to be "edge." The "Edge of Seventeen" is perfect. I'm gonna write a song, ok? And I'm gonna give you credit.' She didn't believe me, you know? She couldn't believe it when it came out on the album.
  3. ↑ "Stevie Nicks on 'Edge of Seventeen'". So it started out about Tom and Jane basically, who I have no idea what they were at 17, but I made it up. And, uh it went into being written about [her Uncle Jonathan and John Lennon].
  4. ↑ "The Sun". Jimmy was absolutely best friends with John Lennon," she says. "So when that happened, a hush came over the house that was so overwhelming that there was nothing that I could do to help. There was nothing I could say, there was no way I could comfort him." Unable to help, Nicks flew home to Phoenix. "I went straight over to my uncle's house, and my uncle died that day. He died right there with me holding his hand, just me and my cousin, who's a little younger than me, sitting there on the bed and on the floor next to him.
  5. ↑ Simons, David (April 1999). "Waddy Wachtel". Musician. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  6. ↑ White, Timothy (September 3, 1981). "With Her New Solo Album, Fleetwood Mac's Good Fairy Tries to Balance Two Careers — and Two Personalities". Rolling Stone. The line 'And the days go by like a strand in the wind' that's how fast those days were going by during my uncle's illness, and it was so upsetting to me. The part that says 'I went today... maybe I will go again... tomorrow' refers to seeing him the day before he died. He was home and my aunt had some music softly playing, and it was a perfect place for the spirit to go away. The one-winged dove in the song is a spirit that is leaving a body, and I felt a great loss at how both Johns were taken. 'I hear the call of the nightbird singing..... come away ... come away....'
  7. ↑ "Just like the one we know misheard lyric by Stevie Nicks". Kissthisguy.com. 1 May 2009. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Edge of Seventeen". Am I Right — Misheard Lyrics.
  9. ↑ "Stevie Nicks". Bathroom On the Right.
  10. ↑ Edwards, Gavin (November 5, 1997). When a Man Loves a Walnut. Fireside Books. p. 66. ISBN 0-684-84567-9.
  11. ↑ Canadian peak
  12. ↑ School of Rock film
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