Edge of Seventeen

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"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 4, 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.

Video Edge of Seventeen

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.

Although Nicks had originally planned to use the title for a song about Tom and Jane Petty, the death of her uncle Jonathan and the death of 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.

Maps Edge of Seventeen

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 that The Police's "Bring on the Night" was the inspiration for the riff. This claim is 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. 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 appropriately 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.

The Edge of Seventeen is a warm, John Hughes-style delight - review

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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 Tracks chart. The original LP version had previously made the top five of Billboard's Top Tracks chart in 1981, peaking at number four. "Edge of Seventeen" also peaked at number 11 on the RPM singles chart in Canada.

The song was also covered on Season 9 of The Voice by Amanda Ayala and Shelby Brown. The single version of the song entered the Top 100 of the iTunes Rock Charts.