I Can't Wait (Stevie Nicks song)

"I Can't Wait"
Single by Stevie Nicks
from the album Rock a Little
B-side	"Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)" "The Nightmare"
Released	March 21, 1986
Recorded	1985
Genre	Pop rock, Hi-NRG
Length	4:35
Label	Modern Records
Writer(s)	Stevie Nicks, Rick Nowels & Eric Pressly
Producer(s)	Rick Nowels & Jimmy Iovine
Stevie Nicks singles chronology
"Talk to Me" (1985) "I Can't Wait" (1986) "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You?" (1986)

"I Can't Wait" is a 1986 song by American singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks. It was the second single released from her third studio album Rock a Little. The song peaked inside the US top 20 at #16 for two weeks and is one of only four of Nicks' singles to enter the US Dance charts peaking inside the top 30.^[1] It also charted in the UK, reaching #54 in the early months of 1986, her first single to chart there since 1981's "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around".^[2]

The song can be also heard on the fictitious radio station "Los Santos Rock Radio" of the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V.

Background

The song was recorded in 1985 at The Village Recorder in Hollywood, CA and was written by Nicks and co-writers Rick Nowels and Eric Pressly. The song was produced by Nowels and Jimmy Iovine, who had worked with Nicks since her Bella Donna album but later left the Rock a Little project.

Nicks explained the song in depth in the liner notes of her 1991 release Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks:^[3]

"To understand this song, you sort of have to let yourself go a little crazy. Love is blind, it never works out, but you just have to have it. I think this was about the most exciting song that I had ever heard. My friend, Rick, whom I had known since I was 18 and he was 13, brought over this track with this incredible percussion thing, and gave it to me asking me if I would listen to it and consider writing a song for it. I listened to the song once, and pretended not to be that knocked out, but the second Rick left, I ran in my little recording studio and wrote 'I Can't Wait.' It took all night, and I think it is all about how electric I felt about this music. And that night, that SATURDAY night, Rick and I went into a BIG studio and recorded it. I sang it only once, and have never sung it since in the studio. Some vocals are magic and simply not able to beat. So I let go of it, as new to me as it was; but you know, now when I hear it on the radio, this incredible feeling comes over me, like something really incredible is about to happen."

Music Video

The promotional music video for the song was directed by Marty Callner. The video features Nicks, her brother Christopher, Sharon Celani & Lori Perry Nicks (Nicks longtime back-up singers), choreographer Brad Jeffries & a cheeky Mick Fleetwood on a stage and on a set of stairs. Nicks also performs parts by herself in a small room which could be a prison cell. Nicks is primarily dressed in black and sings the song in front of a microphone and during parts has a tambourine, this all goes back to Nicks' trademark image of her performances of songs such as "Rhiannon" with her band Fleetwood Mac.

Nicks says that she did drugs on the set of all her videos of the era however, regarding the video for "I Can't Wait" she said in I Want My MTV:^[4]

"I look at that video, I look at my eyes, and I say to myself, 'Could you have laid off the pot, the coke, and the tequila for three days, so you could have looked a little better? It just makes me want to go back into that video and stab myself."

Live Performances

"I Can't Wait" was performed for the first time on the Rock a Little tour in 1986 and this was the only tour to feature the song.^[5]

Releases

An extended mix of the song was released towards the end of 1985 in most territories such as the US, UK and Germany. The extended mix also included the standard version of the song and the Rock a Little album track "Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)". The 7 inch single release simply featured the standard version and "Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)".^[6] A 1986 release in the US featured a b-side "The Nightmare", the release was called The Nightmare extended mix.^[7]

The highly sought after 5-track US 12-inch release of "I Can't Wait", in one of the most iconic picture sleeves of Nick's career, includes:

1. "I Can't Wait" (Rock Mix) — 6:00
2. "I Can't Wait" (Instrumental Dance Mix) — 6:20
3. "I Can't Wait" (Dub Dance Mix) — 4:23
4. "I Can't Wait" (Rock Dub Mix) — 5:50
5. "The Nightmare" (Special Extended Vocal Remix) — 6:40

The song appears in original form on the aforementioned 1991 Timespace album as well as the 2007 Greatest Hits album Crystal Visions – The Very Best of Stevie Nicks. It was re-released off of Timespace in the UK, reaching #47 in the charts.

Charts

References

External links

• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics