Sometimes It's a Bitch

"Sometimes It's a Bitch"
Single by Stevie Nicks
from the album Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks
B-side
  • "Desert Angel"
  • "Battle of the Dragons"
ReleasedAugust 12, 1991 (1991-08-12)
GenrePop rock[1]
Length4:38
Label
Songwriters
Producers
Stevie Nicks singles chronology
"Whole Lotta Trouble"
(1989)		 "Sometimes It's a Bitch"
(1991)		 "Love’s a Hard Game to Play"
(1991)

"Sometimes It's a Bitch" is a song by American singer Stevie Nicks, written by Billy Falcon and Jon Bon Jovi, who also produced the track alongside Danny Kortchmar. It was the first single released from Nicks' compilation album Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks (1991). The single peaked at number 56 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top 20 in Australia and Canada. A music video for the song was filmed, featuring clips of Nicks from 1981 to 1991.

The B-side "Desert Angel" was also taken from the compilation, while the song "Battle of the Dragons" had previously featured on the soundtrack for the film American Anthem.

Writing and recording

In the liner notes for Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks, Nicks commented that she initially did not understand what Jon Bon Jovi, the song's primary writer, was trying to say with the track.[2] However, over the following two weeks, she realized that, "Jon, without knowing it, had sort of taken a time machine back eighteen years and watched my life, the good parts...and the bad."[2] She spoke that Bon Jovi "dreamed about what the notorious Stevie Nicks had been like...and what it had all done to her...the indulgences, the lifestyle."[2]

Critical reception

Billboard positively commented that although not written by Nicks, "this introspective rocker sounds as if it was penned by the rock poetess herself."[3] Alex Henderson and Bryan Devaney of Cash Box described the track as "a slick yet edgy pop-rock single."[1] Kent Zimmerman for Gavin Report responded favorably to "Sometimes It's a Bitch", writing that although Nicks did not co-write the track, "she gives the song an excellent reading."[4]

Track listings

  • 7-inch and cassette single[5][6]
  1. "Sometimes It's a Bitch" – 4:37
  2. "Desert Angel" – 5:21
  1. "Sometimes It's a Bitch" – 4:36
  2. "Desert Angel" – 5:20
  3. "Battle of the Dragons" – 5:11

Personnel

Personnel are taken from the Timespace liner notes.[2]

Charts

Release history

Release dates and formats for "Sometimes It's a Bitch"
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United Kingdom August 12, 1991
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 [24]
Japan September 27, 1991 Mini-album EMI [25]
Australia September 30, 1991 CD [26]
October 21, 1991 Cassette [27]

References

  1. 1 2 Henderson, Alex; Devaney, Bryan (August 24, 1991). "Music Reviews – Singles". Cash Box. Vol. LV, no. 2. New York, NY. p. 5. ISSN 0008-7289.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Nicks, Stevie (1991). Timespace – The Best of Stevie Nicks (CD album liner notes). 7 91711-2.
  3. ↑ "Single Reviews – Rock Tracks". Billboard. Vol. 103, no. 34. New York, NY: BPI Communications Inc. August 24, 1991. p. 65. ISSN 0006-2510.
  4. ↑ Zimmerman, Kent (August 16, 1991). "Album New Releases". Gavin Report. No. 1869. San Francisco, CA. p. 52.
  5. ↑ Sometimes It's a Bitch (UK 7-inch single vinyl disc). EMI Records, Modern Records. 1991. EM 203.
  6. ↑ Sometimes It's a Bitch (US cassette single sleeve). Atlantic Records, Modern Records. 1991. 7 4-98758.
  7. ↑ Sometimes It's a Bitch (European 12-inch single vinyl disc). EMI Records, Modern Records. 1991. 20 4436 6.
  8. ↑ Sometimes It's a Bitch (UK CD single liner notes). EMI Records, Modern Records. 1991. CDEM 203, 2044362.
  9. ↑ "Stevie Nicks – Sometimes It's a Bitch". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Image 1648". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles". Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 37. September 14, 1991. p. 33. OCLC 29800226.
  12. ↑ "European Hit Radio" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 8, no. 39. September 28, 1991. p. 35. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. To see the peak chart position, click 'TITEL VON', followed by the artist's name. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Stevie Nicks – Sometimes It's a Bitch". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Official Singles Chart on 31/8/1991 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Playlist Chart" (PDF). Music Week. September 14, 1991. p. 16. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
  17. ↑ "Stevie Nicks Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Stevie Nicks Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  19. ↑ "U.S. Cash Box Charts" (PDF). popmusichistory. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  20. ↑ "the Gavin Report – Album". Gavin Report. No. 1873. San Francisco. September 13, 1991. p. 36.
  21. ↑ "the Gavin Report – Top 40". Gavin Report. No. 1874. San Francisco. October 4, 1991. p. 8.
  22. ↑ "R&R The Back Page – National Airplay Overview – AOR Tracks". Radio & Records. No. 907. Los Angeles. September 13, 1991. p. 140. ISSN 0277-4860.
  23. ↑ "Top 91 of '91 – AOR Tracks". Radio & Records. No. 920. Los Angeles. December 13, 1991. p. 61. ISSN 0277-4860.
  24. ↑ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. August 10, 1991. p. 19.
  25. ↑ "スティービー・ニックス | サムタイムズ・イッツ・ア・ビッチ" [Stevie Nicks | Sometimes It's a Bitch] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved February 4, 2025.
  26. ↑ "New Release Summary – Product Available from : 30/09/91: Singles". The ARIA Report. No. 88. September 29, 1991. p. 19.
  27. ↑ "New Release Summary – Product Available from : 21/10/91: Singles". The ARIA Report. No. 91. October 20, 1991. p. 20.
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