User:Marisol03244/sandbox

Article Evaluation

 * The Dreams (Fleetwood Mac Song) page seems a little out of date. The last year mentioned in the article is 2007, though some of the logistics have been updated since. However, it might be worth mentioning some covers and samples that have come out since then. Maybe Post Malone's 2016 "Hollywood Dreams Come Down". Because Post Malone is a contemporary rap artists, it is arguably a testament to the song's ability to transcend time and genre, as Stevie Nicks and Post Malone create very different genres of music. I think it might also be interesting to include a the chord progression of the song and harmonic patterns, more on the overall musicality.

Marisol03244 (talk) 01:13, 9 February 2018 (UTC)

Wikipedia Topics
The article I plan to improve is Blue Letter.

The talk page for this article is virtually empty. No Wikipedians have written anything on it so far, but there is a notice from Wikipedia itself that the page is “within the scope of WikiProject Songs.” This section also notes that the page has been rated “Stub-class” on the quality scale and is looking for improvements.

I would definitely want to improve the Background section, as there is very little there. However, most Fleetwood Mac songs have interesting and sometimes complicated backgrounds, so I believe that this is worth investigating and writing about here. There is also nothing on the meaning of the song, so I would love to look into that and mention some possible, speculated upon meanings of the song, especially in the context of some of the band’s other songs/records.

Additionally, there is only one source listed, and it’s difficult to find all the information in the article actually in the source that is cited. Because of this, I plan to find plenty of different sources to actually back up the information I find to update the article.

First Draft
"Blue Letter" is a song written by brothers Michael and Richard Curtis that was first released by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac on their eponymous 1975 album Fleetwood Mac. It was also released as a single in Japan with "Say You Love Me". Fleetwood Mac performed the song on every tour from 1975 to 1990. It was the only song on the album not written by a band member.

Background
Brothers Michael and Richard Curtis met the young couple Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, then known as rock duo Buckingham Nicks and unaffiliated with Fleetwood Mac, through Polydor Records. The group of four became fast friends and worked together on two demos. The first was “Blue Letter”, which, like many of the songs on the Fleetwood Mac album, was intended for the second Buckingham Nicks LP. Unlike “Blue Letter”, the second demo titled “Seven League Boots” was not adopted by the group and was later reworked to become Crosby, Stills, and Nash’s 1982 hit, “Southern Cross”. According to drummer Mick Fleetwood’s autobiography, Play On: Now, Then, and Fleetwood Mac, the choice to record “Blue Letter” towards the end of the production of the Fleetwood Mac album, slated for release in 1975, was very last minute. While they were recording the album at Sound City with producer Keith Olsen, they heard Michael and Richard Curtis recording the song and decided to add it. It was one of two last-minute additions, along with what Fleetwood called a “reinterpretation” of “World Turning” by Peter Green, the founder and original guitarist of the group. The Buckingham Nicks studio recordings of this song have yet to surface, but live recordings of Buckingham Nicks performing in January 1975 include an early version of the track.

Meaning and Legacy
Some speculate that “Blue Letter” may have a more vindictive and passive aggressive meaning about leaving a lover for someone younger. Although it wasn’t written by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks primarily, there are those that believe that this song ties into their famously tumultuous romance, as they were having difficulties in their relationship as early as 1975 when they recorded it. It is possible that this not quite warm and fuzzy cover foreshadows more explicitly breakup songs such as the Rumours hit, “Go Your Own Way”. However, the band’s comparative lack of public dialogue on the track combined with its more figurative lyrics make it impossible to discern any one true meaning. The song and the album it is featured on mark a significant change for the band, signaling the addition of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham to turn the band into their most well-known incarnation. The song also inspired the name of a set of Fleetwood Mac related archives, called "The Blue Letter Archives", self-described as the site for “over 750 articles published about the band, reviews of their albums, and information regarding their solo careers”.

Marisol03244 (talk) 22:34, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Wikipedia Feedback Response
After reflecting on the feedback I received, I have decided to, in addition to adding information, delete information which I do not find to be credible based on the source already listed and my own searching on the internet. Another more mechanical edit I will make is add more information to my references as I manually input and edit the sources so that they fuction better in the article.

As far as content goes, I will make significant changes to the first paragraph of the “Meaning and Legacy” section. Some of this section is a little bit confusing and run-on, so I will edit this to improve its readability. I will also delete words in my draft like “vindictive” and “passive aggressive” so that it sound more impartial, which is important in Wikipedia articles. I will also add more basic information on the band’s history, in particular Stevie Nicks’ and Lindsey Buckingham’s relationship, so that the reader has more context while reading about the meaning of the song.