When we got back to New York City, Joni was waiting for us at our hotel, not at all happy that she'd missed the festival. Frustrated, she'd watched the whole thing unspool on TV news, which had covered it practically from beginning to end. Our babbling and rambling about the experience didn't make it any easier for her. Instead she'd put all her energy into writing about it and had a good 90% of the song finished before we arrived. She played it for us before we even got settled.I came upon a child of GodIt was a beautiful, gentle ballad, rather smoky, folky and moody. I noticed Stephen listening intently with that strange look in his eyes. When Joni had finished, after delivering that magical refrain -- We are stardust, we are golden -- he didn't hesitate. "Can we have that song?" he asked her. "I know exactly what to do with it. But I'd like to change it a little."
He was walking along the road...
Because Joni was one of the lads, to say nothing of being my girlfriend, she merely shrugged and said, "Sure." And of course, Stephen turned her ballad into a balls-out rock 'n' roll song. He took that songbird, dark-purply approach of hers and attached electric jumper cables to it, with Neil adding that killer of a riff at the top.
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