In the liner note for Timespace, Stevie Nicks deeply explains an experience that inspired her to write "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You". That experience told Stevie that no matter who bad things are for you, they are worse for someone else. To Stevie, her problems and pain were nothing compared to the pain Joe Walsh was going through:
"....and I wrote a song for him... 'this is your song'....I said...to the people...but it was Joe's song. Thank you, Joe, for the most committed song I ever wrote." -- Timespace liner notes
This song is for Joe Walsh, and for the pain the loss of his daughter was causing him, but it is also for everyone who hears it and needs something to assure them that they are special.
Has anyone ever written anything for you
In all your darkest hours
Have you ever heard me sing
Listen to me now
You know I'd rather be alone
Then be without you
Don't you know
Stevie is asking Joe, and all her fans, if we have ever felt so special that a song would be written just for us. Did we turn to Stevie in times of pain or sorrow? Did Joe release his hidden pain through Stevie's music, or music alone? Stevie felt so close to Joe, and so in love with him, that she would rather have no one than be without Joe. In reference to us, Stevie's fans, Stevie would be nowhere out, and both we and Stevie know that.
Has anyone ever given anything to you
In your darkest hours
Did you ever give it back
Well, I have
I have given that to you
If it's all I ever do
This is your song
Stevie is asking Joe Walsh, and also her fans, it anyone ever gave them a part of themselves and how we reacted to it. Did we accept their gift through our pain or did we throw it back, because we wanted to hide our pain and be miserable? Stevie has given Joe a part of herself through this song. And through this song, she has also given her fans a part of herself. It's Joe's song, Joe's daughter's song and anyone who cares enough to listen's song.
And the rain comes down
There's no pain and there's no doubt
It was easy to say
I believed in you everyday
If not for me, then
Do it for the world
Rain had become Stevie's symbol of pain, whether in "Dreams", "Outside The Rain" or any other song. But this time, the rain is not pain. There is no doubt Stevie believed in Joe and in us. She wants us to stand up to our pain and carry on, go on with our lives, because we have people who need us.
So, if not for me, then
Do it for yourself
If not for me, then
Do it for the world
Poet, priest of nothing, legend
Stevie wants Joe, and us, to go on. Not just for her, but because WE need to do it and the people we love need us to do it. We are all poets, and poets are priests of nothing, and legends. We are all legends in our own special ways. Everyone, Stevie Nicks, Joe Walsh, all of Stevie's fans, everyone in the world.
Yes, this song was inspired and written for Joe Walsh. But it is clear that this song has come to be for anyone who has ever been down and out and needed someone to turn to. Joe Walsh had dedicated that water fountain to his daughter. "...to HER and all the other who were to small to get a drink". "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You" was Stevie's Nicks' dedication to wall who ever needed someone, something special.
(The interpretations to these lyrics were compiled through discussions on the message boards of the Penguin, The Ledge. It is entirely possible that the artists had something completely different in mind.)
