WOW. I found this thread while conducting a search for Stevie Nicks in order to post in the right area about her album on Rollingstone.com. Obviously, this is a very old thread, but I wanted to put my 2 cents in.
A lot of you have been on this forum from the beginning and I have just joined. I was never a hardcore nessaholic until now. I never followed her every move or pined away for one. I was a fan, yes, I bought her albums when I realized they were out and liked them a lot. To me, Harmonium was the album I did not connect with until just recently actually. I think I was in a different place in my life than she was in her life when she wrote that album so I could not fully embrace her vision. With that said, I never gave up on it. I like it a lot more now because I've matured and can give it the consideration it deserves. H&T I connected with immediately, especially Home, Fools like Me, More than this. Maybe people who do not care for this album or connect with it can revisit it and see it differently when they are in a different point in their lives.
As for the discussion about her attitude towards fans, I have a few thoughts based on my own experiences. No, I'm not a musician, nor do I have any fans but I do have experience with insecurities. I am an extremely shy person (in real life; the computer gives me boldness). When I am in public situations, and back when I was in school I RARELY talk (though I am getting better as I get older). I have since learned to at least put a smile on my face, but I didn't used to and people thought I was a bitch! I'm only quite because I fear rejection, I'm afraid of sounding stupid, I hate my nasal voice, and I am ALWAYS nervous that people will not like me. Now, you might be thinking, what does this have to do with Vanessa?? People love her, they tell her they love her and her music! Depression and insecurities run very deep and you can't just snap your fingers to make them go away. If you have a bad day or are feeling particularly down on yourself, even if you just played a set in front of fans, nothing matters but that deep well of darkness. How I feel on the inside is often reflected on how I treat people, even the ones that love me (especially the ones that love me). I am only guessing that Vanessa has some sort of depression based on her music mainly (and why I connect so deeply to it and her). With the new information we have about her being bisexual it ALL makes sense to me. She was most likely denying to everyone and to herself that she is bisexual. Denying a part of yourself, hating a part of yourself that you cannot change, thinking others won't like you if they know, and not feeling worth anything. Combine this all with the fact that she is in the public eye being judged, she has put her soul to record and people are not liking it, and it's not successful...that is just a recipe for depression. So she might not feel like talking to people because of what is going on inside of her. She also seems very introspective and thoughtful, if not old fashioned and I think this is why she doesn't necessarily use technology to her advantage and stay in touch with her fans as others do. She's not the type to make a tweet every time she goes to the bathroom. I mean, wouldn't you rather have these clever, witty, thoughtful tweets that keep us guessing and in discussion (and to look up who the heck Jack K is and then maybe expand our own minds by reading him as well?) than to know every move she makes? I don't think she'd be the V we love if she were to do that.
I've made a pretty big departure from what the thread originally asked, but I felt I needed to address the issues brought up about her 'bitchiness' because ...well you know, I just had a paragraph about it. But to answer the original question: hands down, absolutely, no questions or qualms about it. I will be a fan after H&T (in fact I still am and actually MORE of fan). Not only that, I will continue to be her fan even if she does switch over to just composing or writing for other people or even if she ventured into techno pop. I may not listen to that album as much, but I would still buy it and follow her. NESSAholic for life!
