sosgemini said:

Great example.

CinisterCee said:

Different artists decide to stash away certain songs indefinitely for different reasons.

In some cases it's about a song that was so huge and became the one thing the casual fans know them for - but it doesn't always represent the growth said artist exhibits in their catalog, or is capable of. It can become confining to them.

In the case of Led Zeppelin, even during their one-off gigs after they disbanded they refused to perform "Stairway To Heaven." Not because they believe it's a trivial song, but because it's become overblown by mainstream rock radio over the years, and it's sort of a yawner for even their hardcore fans. Radio saturation can kill a song's power and there's almost 35 years of that for that song.

Kurt Cobain began to hate to have to play "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

Springsteen re-invented "Born In The USA" because so many people misinterpreted the lyrics and thought it was about patriotism that he HAD to re-invent it if he was gonna continue to perform it.

He hated that Reagan and a lot of the rest of the country only heard the chorus, and paid no attention to the lyrics that conveyed a returning soldier's grief at how hard it was for him in his own country after putting his life on the line for the very people who made it hard on him.

With Prince and "Doves" I have a feeling it's more about its execution live more than anything else. I could be completely wrong.

sosgemini said:

She does perform an acoustic version of it, usually at her more intimate gigs. I have mp3's of a bunch of different live versions she's done.