Yes, the lyrics quite obviously are about sex with a 16-year-old, notwithstanding all the efforts to downplay that. But that's not what the song is about. When it rains, the sea changes color, but it does not change. What color does the sea become? It goes grey. The song is about aging.
Edge of Seventeen was released in 1981. Stevie was born in 48 - she would have been 33. Her tumultuous 20's over, the Fleetwood Mac sex betrayal sagas becoming a thing of the past. The music scene full of babies doing New Wave. Fleetwood Mac and Stevie still very beloved artists, but their fans beginning to age.
It comes earlier for women than for men. At 33, a woman is still a sexual person, still able to have a child. But the end is in sight. One day, it's mostly all over. The storms of life come and go, we go grey eventually. It comes as a surprise, even though we should expect it. Yet even so - the sea does not change. I'm still me, still the same person.
Where do you go from there? I don't think this song really presents an answer.
Yes, the lyrics quite obviously are about sex with a 16-year-old, notwithstanding all the efforts to downplay that. But that's not what the song is about. When it rains, the sea changes color, but it does not change. What color does the sea become? It goes grey. The song is about aging.
Edge of Seventeen was released in 1981. Stevie was born in 48 - she would have been 33. Her tumultuous 20's over, the Fleetwood Mac sex betrayal sagas becoming a thing of the past. The music scene full of babies doing New Wave. Fleetwood Mac and Stevie still very beloved artists, but their fans beginning to age.
It comes earlier for women than for men. At 33, a woman is still a sexual person, still able to have a child. But the end is in sight. One day, it's mostly all over. The storms of life come and go, we go grey eventually. It comes as a surprise, even though we should expect it. Yet even so - the sea does not change. I'm still me, still the same person.
Where do you go from there? I don't think this song really presents an answer.