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So I'm back to the velvet underground
Back to the floor that I love
To a room with some lace and paper flowers
Back to the gypsy that I was to the gypsy that I was
And it all comes down to you
Well you know that it does, well
Lightning strikes maybe once maybe twice
Oh and it lights up the night
And you see you're a gypsy
You see you're a gypsy
To the gypsy
That remains
She faces freedom
With a little fear
Well I have no fear
I have only love
And if I was a child
And the child was enough
Enough for me to love
Enough to love
She is dancing away from you now
She was just a wish
She was just a wish
And her memory is all that is left for you now
You see you're a gypsy
You see you're a gypsy
Lightning strikes
Maybe once maybe twice
And it all comes down to you
Oh oh well it all comes down to you
Lightning strikes
Maybe once maybe twice
Oh
I still see your bright eyes bright eyes
And I've always loved you
And it all comes down to you
It all comes down to you
Back to the floor that I love
To a room with some lace and paper flowers
Back to the gypsy that I was to the gypsy that I was
And it all comes down to you
Well you know that it does, well
Lightning strikes maybe once maybe twice
Oh and it lights up the night
And you see you're a gypsy
You see you're a gypsy
To the gypsy
That remains
She faces freedom
With a little fear
Well I have no fear
I have only love
And if I was a child
And the child was enough
Enough for me to love
Enough to love
She is dancing away from you now
She was just a wish
She was just a wish
And her memory is all that is left for you now
You see you're a gypsy
You see you're a gypsy
Lightning strikes
Maybe once maybe twice
And it all comes down to you
Oh oh well it all comes down to you
Lightning strikes
Maybe once maybe twice
Oh
I still see your bright eyes bright eyes
And I've always loved you
And it all comes down to you
It all comes down to you
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"Oh boy, I've never really spoken about this, so I get verklempt, and then I've got the story and I start to screw it up. Okay: In the old days, before Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey [Buckingham] and I had no money, so we had a king-size mattress, but we just had it on the floor. I had old vintage coverlets on it, and even though we had no money it was still really pretty... Just that and a lamp on the floor, and that was it—there was a certain calmness about it. To this day, when I'm feeling cluttered, I will take my mattress off of my beautiful bed, wherever that may be, and put it outside my bedroom, with a table and a little lamp."
On March 25, 2009 during a show in Montreal on Fleetwood Mac's Unleashed Tour, Stevie Nicks gave a short history of the inspiration behind Gypsy. She explained it was written sometime in 1978-79, when the band had become "very famous, very fast," and it was a song that brought her back to an earlier time, to an apartment in San Francisco where she had taken the mattress off her bed and put it on the floor. To contextualize, she voiced the lyrics: "So I'm back, to the velvet underground. Back to the floor, that I love. To a room with some lace and paper flowers. Back to the gypsy that I was." Those are the words: 'So I'm back to the velvet underground' — which is a clothing store in downtown San Francisco, where Janis Joplin got her clothes, and Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane, it was this little hole in the wall, amazing, beautiful stuff — 'back to the floor that I love, to a room with some lace and paper flowers, back to the gypsy that I was.'
I love this song.
"Lightning strikes maybe once, maybe twice...
And you see your gypsy"
This line seems to say that someone will come along once in your life, and you realize that you want to be 'free' with that person, and that you see the one you love.
Gypsys during that time were also considered like hippies as well.
To me, it describes someone who is restless and nomadic in that they can't settle down. They can't form real, lasting relationships. But this time, there is a one-in-a-million "lightning strike", and she's suddenly not a fearless gypsy, she is a fragile woman. Now, it's up to him to chase after her, or else she'll just go back to her "gypsy" ways: running away and keeping everyone at arms' length.
I recognize that the author had a different intended interpretation, but... this way is more meaningful to me. Thoughts?
Ten years ago I ended up in a wheelchair, before that I was an actor, singer, dancer. In a lot of ways, the wheelchair did give me freedom because without it, I was just stuck in a bed, but it was very frightening to go out into the world. Trying to work out who this *me* was.
It was really hard for me to work up the courage to go anywhere in the chair, but after a few years my daughter tricked me into going to a karaoke bar with her. For a long time I was content to sit on the sidelines and watch her perform, but eventually she pushed (quite literally!) me into going up to sing, and I picked this song.
For me - the "floor that I loved" was a stage, and the rest of it was basically looking back at who I used to be, because the memory is all I have left of her.
Whenever I hear it now, well I still have mixed emotions, but it makes me feel stronger and happier because I did sort of get back to me by putting myself back on stage.
You are right about interpretations. I am always interested to hear the songwriter's meanning, but that doesn't often change what it means to me. It can mean something different to everyone who hears it. I doubt anyone knew what it meant to me the first night I sang it.
I lost my first baby after 5 months of trying. I have been extremely depressed and I miss my Jordan so much. This song to me is about not transforming into the mother I thought I would be...instead I'm left with empty arms. I feel sad all the time and I'm not complete without my baby. I'm back to the gypsy...that I was...
Rest in Peace, Jordan.
Maybe Jordan's the gypsy. You see his bright eyes, his memories remain. He remains your gypsy.
And don't forget. Lightning strikes - maybe twice.
I see the song the exact same way you do. It took me a while to see it that way, I used to think 'it all comes down to you' meant some boy, but it means yourself, it always comes back to just you, your gypsy self.