Stevie Nicks is the queen of rock ânâ roll. Anyone questioning this fact should immediately Google the dressing room version of her song âWild Heart.â The footage was recorded without Nicksâ knowledge while she was getting ready for her 1981 Rolling Stone photo shoot. Itâs perhaps the most stunning performance of her careaer (that we know of), and a telling example of her magnetic energy and raw talent.
And that voice. With her drawling vibratoâpossibly picked up from young years spent singing country duets with her grandfatherâNicks belts each line like sheâs unleashing hurricane-force gusts of wild joy. Though sheâs an incredible singer, letâs not forget that sheâs also responsible for writing some of rockâs best lyrics.
Stevie Nicks will make you fall in love with words. Her emotionally complex lyrics often capture conflicting feelings, whether she was writing barbs about her tumultuous romance with fellow Fleetwood Mac member Lindsey Buckingham, her abortion (âSaraâ), or something as seemingly meaningless as wearing âboots all summer longâ (âNightbirdâ)âpossibly a reference to her years spent addicted to cocaine, when sheâd walk around with a gram in her boot. Her breakup songs became anthems for personal autonomy; even when she was caught in the throes of love or pain, Nicks never seems to have forgotten who she is.
Here are some of Stevie Nicksâ most striking lyrics:
âLandslideâ (Fleetwood Mac, 1975)
âOh, mirror in the sky/What is love?/Can the child within my heart rise above?/Can I sail through the changinâ ocean tides?/Can I handle the seasons of my life?â
âRhiannonâ (Fleetwood Mac, 1975)
âShe rules her life like a fine skylark.â
âGold Dust Womanâ (Rumours, 1977)
âRulers make bad lovers/Youâd better put your kingdom up for sale.â
âDreamsâ (Rumours, 1977)
âThunder only happens when itâs raining/Players only love you when theyâre playing/Women they will come and they will go/When the rain washes you clean, youâll know.
âSilver Springsâ (1977 B-side)
âTime casts a spell on you, but you wonât forget me/I know I could have loved you, but you would not let me/Iâll follow you down âtil the sound of my voice will haunt you/Youâll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you.âÂ
âStormsâ (Tusk, 1979)
âSo I try to say goodbye, my friend/Iâd like to leave you with something warm/But never have I been a blue calm sea/I have always been a storm.â
âThatâs Alrightâ (Mirage, 1982)
âI hope you find a love/Your own designs of love.â
âNightbirdâ (The Wild Heart, 1983)
âAnd the summer became the fall/I was not ready for the winter/It makes no difference at all/âCause I wear boots all summer long.â
âWild Heartâ (The Wild Heart, 1983)
âDonât blame it on me/Blame it on my wild heart.â