‘Edge of Seventeen’ is a song by the 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. The lyrics were 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. The song features a distinctive, chugging 16th-note guitar riff, drum beat and a simple chord structure typical of Nicks' songs. The song's title for the single release was ‘Edge of Seventeen (Just Like the White Winged Dove)’. In the United States, ‘Edge of Seventeen’ just missed out on the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 11. Despite this, it became one of Nicks' most enduring and recognizable songs and has been covered by several artists. In 2021, it was listed at No. 217 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"
According to 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 Jane's strong Southern accent made it sound like "edge of seventeen" to Nicks. 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.
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 murder of John Lennon during the same week of December 1980 inspired a new song for which Nicks used the title. Nicks' producer and lover 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.
Nicks had never actually heard a dove's call before, as she revealed in 2020 when she had only just heard it recently. 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. She makes her home here in the great Saguaro cactus that provides shelter and protection for her…".
‘Edge of Seventeen’ peaked at No. 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in April 1982. The live version on the B-side reached No. 26 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. The original album version of the song had previously made the top five of Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart in 1981, peaking at No. 4. ‘Edge of Seventeen’ also peaked at No. 11 on the RPM Top 100 Singles chart in Canada.
That distinctive guitar riff comes courtesy of Waddy Wachtel, who first worked with her pre-Fleetwood Mac when she was a duo with Lindsey Buckingham. Wachtel is one of the most revered but unheralded session guitarists in rock history, with credits on tracks by Randy Newman, Linda Ronstadt, Bob Seger and many others. He, Perry, and Celani all toured with Nicks for years following release of the Bella Donna album (Wachtel is easy to recognize - he's the guy with hair that looks like electrified spaghetti).
Label – Modern
Songwriter – Stevie Nicks
Producer – Jimmy Iovine
SONG LYRICS
[Chorus]Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Whoo-whoo-whoo
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Whoo, baby, whoo
Said, whoo
[Verse 1]
And the days go by
Like a strand in the wind
In the web that is my own
I begin again
Said to my friend, baby (Everything stops)
Nothin' else mattered
He was no more
(He was no more)
Than a baby then
Well, he seemed broken hearted
Somethin' within him
But the moment
That I first laid
Eyes on him
All alone on the edge of seventeen
[Chorus]
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Whoo, baby, whoo, whoo
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Said, whoo, baby, whoo
Said, whoo
[Verse 2]
Well, I went today
Maybe I will go again
Tomorrow, yeah, yeah
Well, the music there
Well it was hauntingly familiar
When I see you doin'
What I try to do for me
With their words of a poet
And a voice from a choir
And a melody
Nothin' else mattered
[Chorus]
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Whoo, baby, whoo, whoo
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Said, whoo, baby, whoo
Said, whoo
[Verse 3]
The clouds never expect it
When it rains
But the sea changes color
But the sea
Does not change
So with the slow graceful flow
Of age
I went forth with an age old
Desire to please
On the edge of seventeen
[Chorus]
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Whoo, baby, whoo, whoo
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Said, whoo, baby, whoo
Said, whoo
[Verse 4]
Well then suddenly
There was no one left standing
In the hall, yeah, yeah
In a flood of tears
That no one really ever heard fall at all
When I went searchin' for an answer
Up the stairs and down the hall
Not to find an answer
Just to hear the call
Of a nightbird singin', come away
(Come away)
(Come away)
[Chorus]
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Whoo, baby, whoo, whoo
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Said, whoo, baby, whoo
Said, whoo
[Bridge]
Well, I hear you (Well, I hear you)
In the morning (In the morning)
And I hear you (And I hear you)
At nightfall (At nightfall)
Sometimes to be near you
Is to be unable to hear you
My love
I'm a few years older than you, my love
(I'm a few years older than you)
[Chorus]
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
(Just like the white winged dove)
Sounds like she's singin'
Whoo, baby, whoo
Said, whoo
Just like the white winged dove
Sings a song
Sounds like she's singin'
Whoo, baby, whoo
Said, whoo