Stand Back

The lyrics were not written by Prince.

"I got married the day I wrote this song. We were driving to Santa Barbara and a new song by Prince came on, so we pulled over somewhere and got the tape. It just gave me an incredible idea, so I spent many hours that night writing a song about some kind of crazy argument, and it was to become one of the most important of my songs. I've been doing this song for years, Fleetwood Mac does it also, and I never get tired of it. 'Stand Back' has always been my favorite song onstage, because...when it starts, it has an energy that comes from somewhere unknown...and it seems to have no timespace. I've never quite understood this sound....but I have NEVER questioned it.

I become a different person, and I like that, because usually I make up my OWN characters...but the lady in 'Stand Back' was not my idea. By the way, Prince did come into the studio the night I called him and told him about the song, and he played incredible synthesizer on it...and then he just walked out of my life, and I didn't see him for a long time.

It was extraordinary... ~Stevie Nicks, Timespace Liner Notes, 1991

inherownwords.com/standback.htm

This song is pretty damn killer. I think it's about a woman telling womanizers to fuck off after they've been used

I swear, this song has as many meanings as Ms. Nicks has flowing dresses. Either, way I'm rounding off the comments to make an even 7.

I read a theory a while back that this song was about Lindsey Buckingham being the only one who didn't try to stop Stevie from marrying Kim, I believe she and Lindsey weren't on speaking terms when she got married. And if you look at the lyrics it does kind of sound like she's say she wished he had stopped her from making a huge mistake and lines that could be applied to Buckingham. "First he took my heart then he ran", "Do not turn away my friend", "So I walked on down away from you", "Maybe your attention was more than I could do". And possible references to wishing he had made contact with her during this: "No one knows how I feel, what I say unless you read between my lines", "I did not hear from you", "No man calls my name", "No man came", "One man did not call". And of course "No one looked as I walked by" definitely fits the part of signifying a wedding, the bride walking down the isle and with everyone disapproving of the union in the first place, "No one looked." And "take me home" could be her wishing he had rescued her before the entire thing happened. All just speculation but Stevie and Lindsey write a lot about eachother so it wouldn't be surprising if this song was about him.

Call me a twisted fuck if you want, but I think that this song is written from the point of view of a former prostitute who no guy will even touch due to her past profession. I shall explain.

The "him" in the song refers to the 'pimp' that she fell for, and whom manipulated her into become a 'ladt of the night'. After so long, though, he casts her out, which she didn't want at that point, since she now has a reputation for being who she became, a whore. ("Do not turn away...no man came") He never gave her any attention at the time, and now no other man will either. She screwed herself over by falling for the pimp in the long run. She was just "standing in a line" with other prostitutes, when all she wanted was one "man" to "call", which he really didn't.

Through all of this, she isn't desired by any guy, and now she doesn't want a man due to the hell she was put through, therefore the phrase, "stand back".

Before any of you think this is some kind of joke, I really put some deep thought into what this song could mean, and this made sense to me. The real meaning of this song puzzled me for days.

Stevie is a basically a male name and I would assume Stevie is actually a male in a female body. She married a man with a female name (Kim), a woman in a man's body, and bypassed marrying a different man with a another female name (Lindsey) who is also a woman in a man's body.

There's more to it, but that's enough to get you thinking about this from the hidden true meaning angle...

Agreed, River Wolf.

Another great Stevie's song about everything that was happening in her life that time. She's singing in here about the time when Robin died and she and Kim wanted to marry to be the family for Robin's son. But none liked that idea of theirs and and they (especially Stevie) felt lonely and misunderstood.

Well, since the song was written by Prince, not Stevie, I don't think it has much to do with any relationship she was in. Just a thought...