Kitt
06-26-2003, 07:31 PM
The landslide will bring you down.
'Landslide' was one of Dana's favorite songs. Aside from its haunting and beautiful melody, she unfortunately related to the sad story within the lyrics.. From the time Dana was a very young child, she was destined to perform and entertain. She was a singer, dancer, actress and an accomplished ice-skater. She was a gifted natural as a little girl, and she built her life around expressing her gift. Dana's talents were rivaled only by her incredible beauty. Given this, she reasonably expected she would express her gift and continue to do what she loved. When opportunities to ply her trade were abruptly closed off to her, she felt blindsided. Perhaps Dana underestimated or didn't even consider the possibility of something she had no control over: the unforgiving and crass nature of the Hollywood industry.
At the age of 20, Dana was excited to learn that she was expecting a child, which was not allowed under her Diff'rent Stroke's contract. Consequently, she found herself not only ousted from her role on a popular sitcom but was eventually, in effect, blacklisted in the entertainment industry. Much to her dismay, the actress and entertainer that she'd been most of her young life was abruptly discounted and all her gold stars reneged.
She was informed that she would have to redeem her reputation as a "trustworthy client". She went from audition to audition with little success. Publicly, Dana was ever the optimist and never complained about her unfair treatment. In retrospect, Dana's disappointment from the accumulative landslide of rejections, topped off by the landslide of cruel and constant tabloid ridicule resulting from some of her escapades, brought her down. Her self-confidence and self-esteem had been deeply shaken.
I took my love and I took it down
Climbed a mountain then I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide brought me down
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life
People in Dana's life advised her that 'the biz' had been cruel to her and that she should walk away. Dana either didn't see it that way, or she was like most of us are to some degree at one time or another, afraid of change. If there was something more to love out there for Dana than what she had already learned to love, she would have pursued it if she could find it. The 'problem' was that Dana loved acting and entertaining. It was her entire life and the very essence of her. Entertaining defined her.
Undoubtedly, Dana questioned time and again if she would ever pull herself back up to where she wanted to be and just how rough the sailing would be to get there. In some very dark ways, such as her battles with drug addiction and her history of self destruction, Dana was unable to avert the landslide well enough to save her own life.
Well, I've been afraid of changin'
'Cause I built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older too
Well, I'm getting older too
So, take this love and take it down
Yeah, and if you climb a mountain and turn around
And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide brought me down
--Landslide lyrics by Stevie Nicks
'Landslide' was one of Dana's favorite songs. Aside from its haunting and beautiful melody, she unfortunately related to the sad story within the lyrics.. From the time Dana was a very young child, she was destined to perform and entertain. She was a singer, dancer, actress and an accomplished ice-skater. She was a gifted natural as a little girl, and she built her life around expressing her gift. Dana's talents were rivaled only by her incredible beauty. Given this, she reasonably expected she would express her gift and continue to do what she loved. When opportunities to ply her trade were abruptly closed off to her, she felt blindsided. Perhaps Dana underestimated or didn't even consider the possibility of something she had no control over: the unforgiving and crass nature of the Hollywood industry.
At the age of 20, Dana was excited to learn that she was expecting a child, which was not allowed under her Diff'rent Stroke's contract. Consequently, she found herself not only ousted from her role on a popular sitcom but was eventually, in effect, blacklisted in the entertainment industry. Much to her dismay, the actress and entertainer that she'd been most of her young life was abruptly discounted and all her gold stars reneged.
She was informed that she would have to redeem her reputation as a "trustworthy client". She went from audition to audition with little success. Publicly, Dana was ever the optimist and never complained about her unfair treatment. In retrospect, Dana's disappointment from the accumulative landslide of rejections, topped off by the landslide of cruel and constant tabloid ridicule resulting from some of her escapades, brought her down. Her self-confidence and self-esteem had been deeply shaken.
I took my love and I took it down
Climbed a mountain then I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide brought me down
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life
People in Dana's life advised her that 'the biz' had been cruel to her and that she should walk away. Dana either didn't see it that way, or she was like most of us are to some degree at one time or another, afraid of change. If there was something more to love out there for Dana than what she had already learned to love, she would have pursued it if she could find it. The 'problem' was that Dana loved acting and entertaining. It was her entire life and the very essence of her. Entertaining defined her.
Undoubtedly, Dana questioned time and again if she would ever pull herself back up to where she wanted to be and just how rough the sailing would be to get there. In some very dark ways, such as her battles with drug addiction and her history of self destruction, Dana was unable to avert the landslide well enough to save her own life.
Well, I've been afraid of changin'
'Cause I built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older too
Well, I'm getting older too
So, take this love and take it down
Yeah, and if you climb a mountain and turn around
And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide brought me down
--Landslide lyrics by Stevie Nicks