Stevie Nicks has had a very well-lived life, much of which remains a mystery even to those close to her. As one of the most iconic and memorable members of Fleetwood Mac and as a soloist, she has released quite a bit of music that some could take to heart. Let’s look at a few songs by Stevie Nicks that feature sound advice for just about anyone.
“Landslide”
“Well, I’ve been afraid of changin’ / ‘Cause I’ve built my life around you.”
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Much of Nicks’ songs with Fleetwood Mac have some connection to her love life, namely her tumultuous relationship with bandmate Lindsey Buckingham. However, I don’t think this line in the gorgeous song “Landslide” is connected to Buckingham, or any man, at all. Rather, I think the “you” in this song is the personification of her career as a musician. So much of her identity was built around being in Fleetwood Mac that without the band, I imagine Nicks wondered what would be left of her. The sage advice here is to not revolve your life around your job, or a lover, or anything, really.
“Edge Of Seventeen”
“And the days go by like a strand in the wind / In the web that is my own, I begin again.”
Nicks said that this song was written primarily about watching the fast decline and eventual death of her beloved uncle from cancer. It was also based on the existential emotions that came about following the death of John Lennon. The “days go by” line is a reference to how fast her uncle’s illness accelerated. Just as well, “the web that is my own” could be seen as Nicks going through a new era of her life, changed by grief, but not tied down by it. The advice here is to simply let it happen, I think. Experience the grief that all human beings experience at one point or another, and then push forward.
“Hard Advice”
“Another famous friend told me / ‘Love doesn’t make a clean break’ / Didn’t talk about heartache / ‘You have to let him go’ / Oh, get over it.”
Well, this example of lyrical advice from Stevie Nicks is a bit on the nose. But who cares? This is a great song by a woman who, at the time, was fresh out of rehab and had turned to a contemporary and friend for help in writing music. That friend was Tom Petty. According to Nicks, this song was “a lecture Tom Petty gave [her] on his way to Phoenix one night.”
“I was having a little problematic moment in my life and he gave me one of his seriously hard advice lectures,” Nicks told Uncut Magazine. “He looked me straight in the eyes with those big clear blue eyes and said, ‘This pain’s gone on too long. Go home, light up your incense and your candle and go to your Boisendorfer and write some real songs.’”
The advice here? Just let it go.
Photo by Bob Chamberlin