Friday, April 01, 2005

"Stop Dragging My Heart Around"

Stevie Nicks has, on the whole, been very clever in choosing her duet partners. Lindsay Buckingham, Don Henley (probably the best), and this one, with Tom Petty. There's something very catchy about the way their voices meld together: Nicks' bewitching, beguiling, soul-inflected call and Petty's keening nasal whine, but what probably tips the balance here is the fact that it's a Heartbreakers song, rather than one of Nicks' gossamer-clad occultist weirdnesses. This is important: too many misguided people think Nicks wrote this. There's no nonsense in the tune, led by Mike Campbell's trademarked chime, while Petty does anguish, as he always has, so damn well. A dark, angry, cathartic song.

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