


This claim is backed up in Andy Summers's memoir One Train Later, when he states that Nicks asked to meet him after a 1981 show in Los Angeles.Īs is typical of Nicks' songs, the lyrics are highly symbolic. Wachtel claimed that The Police's "Bring On the Night" was the inspiration for the riff. During the bridge, the chords alternate twice between E-minor and C. Throughout the song, a distinctive 16th note guitar riff is played by Waddy Wachtel, progressing through C, D, and E-minor chords. She makes her home here in the great Saguaro cactus that provides shelter and protection for her…". The opening lyrics were inspired by a menu she was reading at a Phoenix restaurant in 1980, which said, "The white wing dove sings a song that sounds like she’s singing ooh, ooh, ooh. Nicks had never actually heard a dove's call before, as she revealed in 2020 when she had only just heard it recently. She remained with her uncle and his family until his death. Soon after, Nicks flew home to Phoenix, Arizona, to be with her uncle Jonathan, who was dying of cancer. Nicks' producer and lover Jimmy Iovine was a close friend of Lennon, and Nicks felt helpless to comfort him. She 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.Īlthough Nicks had originally planned to use the title for a song about Tom and Jane Petty, the death of her uncle Jonathan and the murder of John Lennon during the same week of December 1980 inspired a new song for which Nicks used the title. Jane said they met "at the age of seventeen", but her strong Southern accent made it sound like "edge of seventeen" to Nicks. Despite this, it became one of Nicks' most enduring and recognizable songs and has been covered by several artists.Īccording to Nicks, the title came from a conversation she had with Tom Petty's first wife, Jane, about the couple's first meeting. In the United States, "Edge of Seventeen" just missed out on the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 11. The song's title for the single release was "Edge of Seventeen (Just Like the White Winged Dove)". The song features a distinctive, chugging 16th-note guitar riff and a simple chord structure typical of Nicks' songs. The lyric 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. "Edge of Seventeen" is a song by American singer and songwriter Stevie Nicks from her debut solo studio album Bella Donna (1981), released as the third single from the album on February 4, 1982.
