I don’t know a lot in this world, but I do know a lot about Fleetwood Mac.
If they offered studies in Fleetwood Mac, I’d have a PhD. I’d wow the living shit out of people on CNN with my insane Fleetwood Mac knowledge.
I spent the majority of my awkward and sweaty prepubescent years fantasizing about Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham getting it on.
I listened to every song one or the other wrote and dissected with great scrutiny the meaning behind each song.
They were my personal soap opera and I couldn’t get enough.
I began thinking about relationships in terms of Stevie and Lindsey.
Relationships must be passionate, dysfunctional and highly inspirational. You must break up with the person but write about them for decades afterwards.
This is what art & love & life are all about, right? RIGHT?!
Even though I was (thankfully) able to move past that idea, I still find myself going on Nicks-Buckingham binges where I gobble up every angst-riddled song and fantasize about my days as a youngster drooling over such insanity.
If you’re not familiar with the musical saga of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, here is your tutorial. If you ARE familiar, then you know what pure awesomeness is like.
Nicks and Buckingham wrote at least 30 songs about one another with dozens of more falling into the “Maybe this about their crazy relationship too?” category. Early in their musical careers they were all that the other wrote about, particularly on the album Rumours which is solely about the band members’ relationships. There is not a single song on Rumours by Nicks or Buckingham that doesn’t discuss their relationship. Delicious.
Below are Nicks and Buckingham’s top ten songs about one another spanning over four decades.
What is your favorite Fleetwood Mac song and why?
Song: “Long Distance Winner”
Album: Buckingham Nicks (1973)
Who Wrote It: Stevie Nicks
Best Lyric: Not unlike the blue-white fire, you burn brightly in spite of yourself. I bring the water down to you, but you’re too hot to touch. You’re too hot to touch.
What It’s About: This song appeared on Buckingham Nicks, the one and only album the duo produced before joining Fleetwood Mac. Even then the couple had problems with Buckingham being notoriously ambitious and competitive and Nicks trying to hold on for the ride. “Long Distance Winner” voices Nicks both fascination and frustration with Buckingham’s perfectionism. Buckingham believed in his talents and so did Nicks. She has discussed in interviews how she knew Buckingham’s drive would get them out of their tiny-ass apartment. She was right, but his ego and her growing independence ultimately led to their breakup years later.
Song: “Landslide”
Album: Fleetwood Mac (1975)
Who Wrote It: Stevie Nicks
Best Lyric: Well, I’ve been afraid of changing ’cause I’ve built my life around you. But time makes you bolder, even children get older, and I’m getting older too.
What It’s About: Nicks seems to go back and forth on who this song is about, with some interviews suggesting she wrote it for her Dad and others suggesting she wrote it for Buckingham. I think it’s fair to say the song was about a point in her life which concerned both her family AND Buckingham. This song was written pre-Fleetwood Mac when things were not going well for the couple. Buckingham had been let go by his label and Nicks’ parents offered to pay for her to go back to college. Nicks had just been dropped off by Buckingham in Aspen for three months while he toured with Don Everly and she did a lot of reflecting in the “snow covered hills” at that time. The beauty and relatability of this song is that it’s about a 25 year-old woman becoming a grownup and questioning what she is doing with her life. It is time for the little girl to break free from her parents and from her lover and get her shit together.
Song: “Silver Springs”
Album: Rumours castaway/The Dance (1977 & 1997)
Who Wrote It: Stevie Nicks
Best Lyric: I’ll follow you down ’til the sound of my voice will haunt you (give me just a chance). You’ll never get away from the sound of the woman that loved you (was I just a fool?).
What It’s About: This haunting song was written on the heels of Nicks and Buckingham’s epic breakup. Written in 1976 and intended for the album Rumours, “Silver Springs” (named after the Maryland town) was banished to b-side oblivion much to Nicks’ chagrin and only saw the light of popularity with Fleetwood Mac’s 1997 reunion tour The Dance. With The Dance version, Nicks again captivated America with her passion and intensity (Nicks stares down Buckingham for half of the song) and the song became a hit and reignited the public’s interest in the band. Nicks typically wrote more flowery and gushy songs about her relationship with Buckingham (while Buckingham wrote more venomous), but this is arguably Nicks most revealing song about her feelings towards her former lover. At the time this song was written, Buckingham had “moved on” to another girlfriend after Nicks broke up with him and it stung more than she could have ever imagined. She tells him in the song that she doesn’t want to hear about the new relationship and she promises him that she will haunt him for the rest of his life. In a lot of ways, she does.
Song: “Second Hand News”
Album: Rumours (1977)
Who Wrote It: Lindsey Buckingham
Best Lyric: One thing I think you should know, I ain’t gonna miss you when you go. Been down so long, I’ve been tossed around enough, oh, couldn’t you just let me go down and do my stuff?
What It’s About: Nicks broke up with Buckingham due to his difficult and dramatic behavior and that did not sit well with Buckingham. He was obviously saddened by the breakup, but often took a more angry approach to it in his songwriting. “Second Hand News” is probably one of his less scathing songs in where he seemingly understands that he’s been replaced, but if Stevie is ever interested in a booty call (“won’t you lay me down in the tall grass and let me do my stuff?”), then that option is still available. In typical Buckingham (and male) fashion he wants her to know that he will not miss her and that he was tired of being down anyways. Right. Cue: years of more angry songs directed at Nicks.
Song: “Go Your Own Way”
Album: Rumours (1977)
Who Wrote It: Lindsey Buckingham
Best Lyric: Tell me why everything turned around? Packing up, shacking up’s all you wanna do. If I could, baby I’d give you my world. Open up, everything’s waiting for you.
What It’s About: Possibly one of the best examples of the Nicks-Buckingham drama, “Go Your Own Way” is filled with all the yummy anger and angst that garnered legions of FM followers. Buckingham was super duper mad that Nicks broke up with him. He accused her of cheating on him which Nicks denies. This accusation did not sit well with Nicks who regularly had to stop herself from physically attacking Buckingham onstage while he sang this song. “Go Your Own Way” signifies the wildly bi-polar feelings one has after being broken up with: “Packing up, shacking up’s all you wanna do (asshole-y)/”If I could baby, I’d give you my world” (sweet). Interestingly, the line “Open up, everything’s waiting for you” contradicts Buckingham’s later sentiment on the follow-up album Tusk where he claims everything Nicks does has been done before and her (fame) won’t last forever.
Song: “Dreams”
Album: Rumours 1977
Who Wrote It: Stevie Nicks
Best Lyric: It’s only me who wants to wrap around your dreams and have you any dreams you’d like to sell? Dreams of loneliness, like a heartbeat drives you mad; in the stillness of remembering what you had and what you lost… and what you had…what you lost.
What It’s About: Probably the second most famous lyrical example of Nick and Buckingham’s relationship, Stevie is telling Lindsey that she’ll let him do his solitary artist thing and leave him alone, but he should pay attention to the fact that he’s going to wind up sad and alone. Nicks didn’t leave Buckingham because she stopped loving him; Buckingham made it too damn difficult to be with. Nicks hopes he can see this and also get over his anger towards her. There will be other women and the pain of their breakup will some day end. Who knew it would take 30 years?
Song: “Angel”
Album: Tusk (1979)
Who Wrote It: Stevie Nicks
Best Lyric: I still look up when you walk in the room. I’ve the same wide eyes, now they tell the story. I try not to reach out; when you turn ’round and you say hello. And we both pretend; no great pretender.
What It’s About: At this point Nicks and Buckingham had been broken up for a couple of years. There is speculation that they got in on through the years (and particularly during Tusk) because the two just couldn’t stop writing about each other. Even though both had gone on to other relationships (Nicks with Don Henley and Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey with Carol Ann Harris), half of Buckingham’s songs and at least one of Nicks’ on Tusk is about the other. The lyrics to “Angel” are sweet in that Nicks still describes getting that butterfly feeling when she sees Buckingham walk into the room. Buckingham was the engineer of FM’s early albums and he spent meticulous hours with the band on recording their songs. This song describes the magical interaction between Nicks and Buckingham while recording an album, “You said, “you feel good”. I said, “It’s funny that you understood.” I knew you would. When you were good, baby, hmmm, you were very good“. With the closing lines of “And we both pretend; no great pretender“, Nicks gives the impression that their love for one another will never truly die.
Song: “What Makes You Think You’re the One?”
Album: Tusk (1979)
Who Wrote It: Lindsey Buckingham
Best Lyric: What makes you think I’m the one who will love you forever? Everything you do has been done and it won’t last forever.
What It’s About: Dude, Lindsey is pissssed in this song. In fact, most of his songs on Tusk are very angry and very raw (hence why this is FM’s best album). In this song, Buckingham is asking Nicks why she thinks she’s all that and a bag of chips. Of course, she doesn’t think that, but at this point, everything Nicks does annoys Buckingham. Probably doesn’t help that she slept with the drummer in the band, Mick Fleetwood. That one did not go over well with Lindsey. Buckingham paints Nicks as helpless and needy in this song and asks her why she thinks he’ll be there to help her. Ouch.
Song: “Blue Denim”
Album: Street Angel (1994)
Who Wrote It: Stevie Nicks
Best Lyric: I knew him another way, I knew him another day. In some ways he’d forgotten me, in many ways he got to me. I turned away so he couldn’t see, I turned away, it could never be. I never thought he would walk away, but I lost him again yesterday.
What It’s About: This is the only Nicks or Buckingham song I selected that did not appear on a FM album, but it’s just so heartbreaking that I had to include it. “Blue Denim” was written for a Nicks solo album after she saw Buckingham for the first time in awhile. Buckingham had left FM years earlier, but reunited with the band to perform at Bill Clinton’s inauguration. Nicks was hoping that all the pain and silence between Buckingham and the band and her would be gone, but it wasn’t. After the concert, Buckingham said goodbye to the band and it broke Nicks’ heart, “I never thought he would walk away, but I lost him again yesterday.” This song proves that even into the 90s (20 years after their breakup), that she was still thinking about Buckingham.
Song: “Say Goodbye”
Album: Say You Will (2003)
Who Wrote It: Lindsey Buckingham
Best Lyric: Saw your face yesterday, thinking on the days of old and the price that we paid for a love we couldn’t hold. I let you slip away. There was nothing I could do. That was so long ago, still I often think of you.
What It’s About: “Say Goodbye” appeared on Fleetwood Mac’s last studio album. This was the song that Buckingham was hoping to write years earlier, but was never able to do. Now he’s finally saying goodbye to Stevie. Now all the heartbreak and anger and undying love are gone. He’s married now and has three kids. He’s happy for the first time in his life, he says. He still thinks of Stevie, but all the feelings are gone. Nicks has said that she knew her relationship with Buckingham was officially over after he had his first child in 1998. Nicks and Buckingham have come full circle, but their passionate love will never die in the hearts of fans.
116 Comments
It wasn’t until recently that I learned all about the drama of Fleetwood Mac and the Buckingham/Nicks affair. I grew up strictly Motown! But now that I know, I can’t help but love all of that heartbreaking music. We love watching a spectacular breakup with a fiery ending; they were kind of enough to set it to music and drag it out for over 20 years. Love this post 🙂
Motown had its share of heartbreak and drama too! Have you watched The Dance yet, Cathy?
You might like my little tumblr blurb about them – I think we think a lot of the same things about these two. 😉 http://mattshoes.tumblr.com/post/7564162155/the-ballad-of-lindsey-buckingham-stevie-nicks
I will check it out!
I think that “Bleed to Love Her” should have been included. It’s a beautiful song, and it must certainly be about Stevie!!
I love this so much.. If never loved a band so much in my life .. I cry just thinking about them and their music! ..if u have an Instagram please follow me “llofromthe570”
I feel like the definitive song is “Goodbye Baby.”
I was sorry Fleetwood Mac ended their shows on their last tour with “Say Goodbye” rather than “Goodbye Baby,” but the latter is too personal to share with a live audience.
As far as lyrics go, “Goodbye Baby” has all the Nidksian themes of their broken relationship, absent the ones about vengeance, vindication and hurt. It sounds like both her first and her final confession.
Maybe she wrote it for someone else. It would be odd if she did, though, since most of the songs on “Say You Will” album appear to be part of an ongoing dialog that culminates in the last two songs.
“Goodbye Baby” hints at a drama from which a novel or two could be spun.
Updates?
I spent my teen years playing Landslide and dedicating it to my Dad in my little growing soul. If only we met when we were 13-we could have dissected together.
Yes! We’ll wax Mac when I see you next!
You have to watch this video:
http://youtu.be/RPEhIoKeTg0
Now, I am a Christine McVie girl all the way, but you cannot argue with how beautiful, clear, and powerful Stevie’s singing voice is, especially in this video. I get goosebumps.
Neat! Thanks for sharing. She’s so adorable!
My favorite song that you didn’t already list is “Sara.” In addition to the lyrics, it’s got that eerie chorus backing vocals by Lindsey, like he’s literally haunting her.
I don’t think “Sara” is about Buckingham though. I thought it was either about Mick Fleetwood’s wife or something with Don Henley?
Ahhh yeah just looked it up. Good call.
About the loss of her baby, by Henley, she aborted.
Weird. We were just listening to Fleetwood Mac in the office this morning.
Landslide is hands down my favorite song. Ever. I even love the Billy Corgan cover of it.
And I think I fell in love with this song around age 25, so…great to hear your historical account.
I’m also a huge Riannon fan (the song, not the artist), and I love that song because it makes me want to feel as empowered as the narrator of the lyrics feels. I know that sounds gay, but it’s the truth.
All of Stevie’s songs are quite empowering, though she wasn’t necessarily the best role model at times. I think she’s a really smart, strong and relatable woman though. She made mistakes, but she doesn’t deny them. I’m not a crystals/ballet/fairy dust gal myself, but I can appreciate the voice in Nicks’ songs.
Why would she be a role model? What rock star is or should be? Stevie lives her life on her terms, I think that’s pretty awesome. My first concert ever was FM in 1977 Hartford CT. My daughters are huge fans, been to multiple fm concerts. Like you, I still get excited when I hear FM, the Stevie/Lindsay songs and the drama that goes with it, thanks for the post.
L–I learned how to sing by listening to Stevie and FM. I loved them, love her and obsessed about the Stevie/Lindsey relationship (those songs just kill me–‘Dreams’ is still so amazing) just like you did (although you are definitely more well-versed than me). Actually, the first post you wrote about them is how I found your blog. 🙂 Anyway, great post–such a fun read.
Awesome! Really? Well, thank you so much for sticking around! It means so much! I learned to sing by listening to them too! “Dreams” is my absolute fave to sing!
They (Stevie, Linds, Mrs. Linds & kids) absolutely DO NOT “hang out with each other.”
Trust me.
Noted & changed. I could have sworn that Nicks said she went on vacation with them and digs the wife & kids, but I could be wrong. Someone else said what you did! Thanks!
They might have but it didn’t happen again.
I wouldn’t believe anything she says on the matter…except liking the kids!
hahahaha! noted!
Nice pseudonym, Kay!
Oh thank you!
I’m about to go down to the lobby and have a photograph session with Sam Anderson 🙂
And leave your pink walled, white pianoed hotel room cold? For shame, Kay! I’m calling Tom.
What a SUPER selection of songs and videos! I never was completely convinced Blue Denim was about Lindsey until just now… it’s about Lindsey all the way!
I’m pretty sure I read that somewhere! Anyways, it does make a lot sense. Lindsey has beautiful blue eyes too! Thanks for reading!
You are correct.Stevie mentioned in an interview that it was about Lindsey. She said his eyes were the color of Blue Denim
of course it is “blue-grey eyes…” him in his blue denim “bright eyes blue denim” when they were younger…one of my favorite songs…. “So I am going away for a little while to remember how to feel” – her trip to betty ford??? “and if I find the answer, I’ll come back and get you”…..beautiful!
I’m glad you chose “Blue Denim,” because it was under-rated – and in her commentary on the video, Nicks’ said that it was probably about Lindsey because he’s the only one with the ‘blue denim’ eyes. Also, I hadn’t really thought of “Angel” in terms of it being about Lindsey for whatev reasons, but it totally makes sense – and especially the rather bitter line: “track a ghost through the fog … you’ll never catch me.” Anywho, someone brought up “Sara,” which I think is also about her relationship with Mick Fleetwood and possibly Don Henley – Nicks’ has said that the line “And he was just like a great dark wing, within the wings of a storm” was inspired by Mick Fleetwood. Regarding “Landslide,” Nicks recently commented that she only told her father it was about him because he wanted to think it way, but I believe she said it was really about Lindsey. At any rate, thanks for the fun post, becuase I’m all about Stevie and the Mac! Cheers, shane33.
Thanks for commenting, Shane! Yeah, I was under the impression that “Sara” is about Mick Fleetwood or Henley. I used to wish that “Storms” was about Buckingham, but I know it’s about Fleetwood. Nicks wrote two of her sweetest and saddest songs about Fleetwood (“Storms” and “Beautiful Child”). I feel like I read somewhere that “Angel” is about Lindsey, but now I’m not finding any evidence. It makes sense though. In fact, I feel this is one song where it is so clearly about Buckingham!
Beauty and the Beast was about Mick too. I have read speculation that Angel could be too, although I really want it to be about Lindsey. Stevie and Lindsey forever!!!
I’m convinced that “Angel” is about Lindsey, but other knowledgeable folks are telling me otherwise. A girl can pretend!
In “Her Own Words” she said Angel was about Mick and the secret affair. About how no one knew although she couldn’t figure out how they hadn’t worked it out because she felt she and Mick were hopeless at pretending. But Mick was convinced Lindsey had figured it out, although it was never discussed until much later after the affair was over. Personally I’m with Mick based on some of the songs on Tusk Lindsey wrote about Stevie I think he knew. I have to be honest though in watching endless interviews and reading endless articles about interviews and quotes I think Stevie changes her mind depending on her mood at the time she’s asked what a song is about. I’ve read that the song Sara is about
1)herself – she said Sara was the pseudonym she used to use when travelling
2) About the end of her affair with Mick snd her having to watch him fall in love with her best friend Sara.
3) One part was about Don
4) Partly about Don and partly about Lindsey
My feeling is that given how long some of Stevie’s songs are they are not all written at the same time, that she takes shorter lyrucs that she’s written and adds to them later. I have seen her say that she will start a song and get stuck, only to find a poem that fits it and use it. I think she is a prolific writer who gets inspiration from many things and has led such a rich life and probably had the same issues over and over again with the men in her life.
Just a note since reading an interview and a comment Lindsey made I’ll never believe that the “packing up, shacking up” line was him accusing her of cheating. Easily done to take that the wrong way but I feel it was more about how Lindsey felt their relationship had ended up. I believe the packing up and shacking up was about them as a couple breaking up. The quote, Lindsey said “I never really knew why we broke up just that we did. It was a very painful and confusing time for me, she didn’t want to marry me or have babies with me, she didn’t want to be my girlfriend anymore, but we were in this band singing and living together and sometimes it felt like we were still a couple.” I think there was enough fights and enough mud slinging that Stevie would have taken it the wrong way and Lindsey has just let that “misconception” carry on. She said the original lyric was “cracking up” I think even that could have been a misconception. Stevie said that although she was living in the condo with Christine that she and Lindsey were still together enough that he would stay the night with her sometimes. I feel like “cracking up and shacking up” or the to and fro of fighting and sleeping together may have been the real meaning behind that lyric. Personally I find “Go Your Own Way” a really really said song.
Wow! Thanks for sharing that, Anne! That is really really interesting! I guess I missed the quote about “Angel”. I could have sworn I read that it was about Lindsey, but I must be mistaken. Listening to “Angel” now, I can see where it is about Mick except for a couple of lines that sound like they’re about Lindsey (“I still look up” and “That girl was me”). Thanks for the info on “Go Your Own Way”. It is such a sad song. Love it!
I know I just don’t get the same feeling other people do about “Go Your Own Way” for me it is really sad. and while he’s definitely angry too, I think his hurt comes through as well. Second Hand News in Lindsey words summed up how he felt about the breakup. He said Stevie accused him of never writing positive songs about her, but for him Second Hand News was as positive as he could get, for him the whole basis of the song was him saying to her the door is always open for us as a couple.
I agree the “I still look up” line from Angel is about Lindsey. But in the situation she was in at the time it applies equally to Mick. It is probably a classic example of something she wrote about Lindsey. but when it came to this song about Mick the lyric applied to him as well so she used it. For me though the
“You said, “you feel good”. I said, “It’s funny that you understood.” I knew you would. When you were good, baby, hmmm, you were very good“. Is all about Lindsey and it’s about the physical and the working relationship. Its there on the Tusk videos you see for this song, they still have it when they work together, it “feels good” and they “understood” each other. I would bet my last cent that they were still hooking up from time to time – even with CarolAnne and the specter of Mick in the background.
Say Goodbye is another favorite and I’m so happy you included it. I just love how they sing it together live. It’s such an in your face song about his feelings for Stevie and the fact that he has admitted he had to leave the band to get over her – despite the other relationships he had – just fills in so many blanks in their history.
As I recall, “Sara” was also in part about the baby that Stevie aborted – especially the lyric “There’s a heartbeat and it never really died.” In other news, I was wondering what your take was on such songs as “Frozen Love” (from Buckingham Nicks) and “Monday Morning,” because both seem to be about Lindsey and Stevie – although “Monday Morning” was written before their breakup?
I recall hearing that both “Frozen Love” and “Monday Morning” were about their relationship. “Monday Morning” makes sense because I think they were having a lot of problems way before they broke up. I’ve also heard the story about the aborted baby. Wasn’t it Don Henley’s? Maybe that’s why that song is so sad.
I have to admit – I can never figure out who Beautiful Child is about and haven’t heard any evidence or interviews about it at all – just a gorgeous song – but one that I have been most curious about over all these years….
I thought I read it’s about Mick, but maybe I got that from all the lyric speculation sites I read through the years. Something tells me it’s about Mick, though he’s far from beautiful. 😉
Beautiful Child is about Mick. Stevie has even referred to Mick as a large child.
She didn’t reveal until a few years ago, but Beautiful Child is about Derek Taylor, famed publicist, writer, etc.
How about ‘Silver Springs’? Stevie has commented that when her and Lindsay were starting out they were driving along a highway, guitars in the back, and came across a sign that said ‘Silver Springs’. Lindsay and her agreed that it sounded like such a beautiful place.
The song is haunting… especially on the Live in Boston DVD
Oh yeah! I included “Silver Springs” at the top! One of the all-time bests!
“Silver Springs” is named for the D.C. suburb of Silver Spring, MD. (Stevie added the s to make it plural.) She has said she saw a highway sign for the town when touring with Fleetwood Mac; nearby Largo, MD, had an arena where the appeared in concert during many of their tours. I have heard them (SN? LB? Not sure if one, the other, or both) comment that “Say Goodbye” is essentially LB’s response to SN’s “Silver Springs.” It is as richly emotive, and as personal. I cry when I watch them sing it live on the tour DVD or on YouTube (for anyone who doesn’t have the DVD). She turns her microphone and stares straight at him, and he at her, while they sing, almost in whispers. Stunning.
i would have added “Thrown down” but good list
i always wondered if that was about them! you think?
Yes I believe it is about Lindsey. Pretty sure she told him it was about him too.
Yes. In the Destiny Rules documentary Stevie tells Lindsey the song is about him when they’re discussing the 1st person/2nd person lyrical changes she makes.
Gosh! I watched that and must have missed it. That song is so telling!
I am convinced, after GREAT speculation, that every song of Stevie’s on Tusk has to do with Mick– most of all, Angel. “Wide eyes” ??? If I had to use those words about Mick or Lindsey’s eyes, it’d go to Mick. And there are interviews about how they ended it, had to, and the weirdness that surrounded it all, while in studio recording Tusk. While I love this rundown and all of the songs (Blue Denim!) I believe Angel is about Mick Fleetwood sans affair and, the aftermath.
Hi Michael! Ok, I just listened to “Angel” with the idea that it’s about Mick. I agree it could be about Mick except for two lines: “I still look up” and “That girl was me”. Both lines insinuate a past relationship which makes me think Lindsey. I don’t know. I swear I read somewhere that she wrote it about Lindsey, but I could be losing it! 😉
Did you guys read the book “Storms” by Carol Ann Harris? There’s a small anecdote in there about them all being in the studio, the affair between Stevie and Mic had been going on, but it wasn’t “out” even though everyone knew. She said that Mic walked through and she was sitting beside Stevie and she starts scribbling things in her journal and she was writing things like the, “I still look up” lyrics that later became the song Angel. You know I take all of these things with a grain of salt because of the unreliability of memory and the amount of time passed, but this is supposedly an eye witness account. Interesting…
Well you could be right, but I just find it hard to believe EVERY song on Tusk from Stevie is about Mick. The affair could have only lasted a matter of weeks, considering the time frames of when they finished touring, when recording of Tusk started and when Mick married Sara. Stevie has admitted that she knew the affair with Mick was over the second Mick laid eys on Sara the first time. I know Mick and Stevie have talked up the affair and made it sound like some big thing, but I think they both know it could have blown up in their faces and they are saving face. Personally I think they fell in to it at a time when they were both heavily into drugs, at a loose end with significant others in their lives, no biggie in actual fact but neither is going to admit that considering the impact on the band dynamics and Lindsey himself. You can’t say you risked the band for nothing can you? Well that is my take anyway.
Stevie sometimes writes songs dealing with more then one person so it could be about Lindsey and Mick. 🙂
She refers to her own eyes–“I’ve the same wide eyes, but now they tell a story…” Why couldn’t “I still look up…” refer to Mick? They had to end their romance, but she still had to see him every day. Their romance was hidden, unlike hers and Lindsey’s. So this song to me seems all about that. (Even if she did give LB “that look” when they were rehearsing the song in the Tusk video.)
Hi, hipstercrite!
“I still look up, I try hard not to look up.” Because they all knew the elephant in the room– er, studio, was the relationship that could not be (i know, that’s apparently EVERY relationship she’s ever had) but in this case it’s Mick & Stevie– trying hard not to look up and, what? Blow their cover? Trying to do the best thing given the circumstance. And they have both said they love “things naughty”.
“That girl was me…track a ghost through the fog, a charmed hour and a haunted song.” Read Mick’s book– no one was more in love with Rhiannon/Stevie than Mick. He caught her spell much like the rest of us. The charmed hour? Read his account of the two of them in the limousine the night it all started. Fog and… that girl WAS her. Also, her recent intros in concert to the song “Ghosts Are Gone” refer quite directly to the past “crazy ghosts”. Likely both Lindsey & Mick, in this case. Convinced that song is mostly about Mick.
That said, and with many folks obsession over Lindsey & Stevie, I wonder now which songs turn from him (or Mick) into songs about Joe Walsh. She has said he was the “love of her life.” “Has Anyone Ever Written… “, of course about him. But which others?
Then, there’s “The Wild Heart” most of which I think is about Waddy. The cocaine years, for sure.
Also, I am most sure “For What It’s Worth” is about Dave Stewart. Our girl gets around, and what girl wouldn’t, esp given her status?!
Curious about your take on that or those?
Michael
Considering how many love songs Stevie has written (the majority of them) and what percentage are about Lindsey, that leaves like 75% about all the other dudes in her life. I tried never to pay attention to those songs b/c I loved the Nick & Buckingham drama too much, but she wrote some truly beautiful love songs about others (particularly “Has Anyone Ever Written…) Did Nicks have an affair with Dave Stewart?
Hey Guys! I’m not so sure about FWIW. Stevie said in concert (when I saw her last) and maybe in some interviews that FWIW is about “the drummer” who went on the road with her when she was RIGHT out of Rehab in 1985. Probably the rock a little tour (or whatever…it got broken up in 2 b/c, she headed off to rehab right after the red rocks show).
Part of the deal is that she felt “to weak” to tour, and the last place she should have been was on the road. And what made this tour special is that transpo was by 100% by bus (she and Mac always always always fly!), and infact this was the only tour she;s ever done by bus.
So the music video set out to recreate that specific time period. Dave’s obviously playing the drummer in the vid, but hes a guitarist. Obviously she could bend the truth here a little here. But it’s also my impression that Stevie happened upon dave one night with Tom Petty, stevie and dave hooked up, and she left before he woke up and he never really saw here again until years later. Toatl one night stand versus an ongoing affair–Unless you’ve heard otherwise.
Anyways that’s my impression. Just wanted to see if you guy had already heard this or not.
I think the drummer was Jimmy Iovine.
She had a relationship with and he was in at least one of her videos, at drums.🌸
Recalling all the relationship tribulations of this band, it’s incredible that they stayed together and produced any albums at all. When I think of the short half life of celebrity marriages and creative partnerships in this second decade of the 21st Century, the Fleetwood Mac example seems bizarre and improbable. Not only did they stay in the band together, but they both acquiesced to their veiled hazing of each other to be recorded, sold, an performed. Can you imagine such a situation arising now? Who are the nearest modern equivalents?
The only people that come to mind are The White Stripes and….that’s it! Hahaha.
I remember Stevie saying in an interview that it wasn’t a complete freeze-out: when she wrote a good song and Lindsey liked it, they got along for the time it took to work on it and record it. In other words, they put the art/songs above personal feelings in those instances. I think the music/work was so all-important to Lindsey, especially during ‘Tusk’, which was his baby, and given that he was probably still in love with Stevie (how he has said that every woman he dated had to deal with the “specter of Stevie”–imagine that!), working together might have been torture, but also bittersweet and the kind of high drama artists tend to get off on, imho. He’s always said it was unnatural to break up and continue to see each other daily and work together, but I think it probably would have been weirder/harder for him to have never seen her at all after the breakup. Speculation, of course. 🙂
Great speculation! Can you imagine seeing someone who broke up with you every day, week or year for the past 35 years? I’m surprised they all didn’t kill each other. Especially with all the cocaine!
I think the drummer was Jimmy Iovine.
She had a relationship with and he was in at least one of her videos, at drums.🌸
Did Nicks have an affair with Dave Stewart? Yes, but… listen to “For What It’s Worth” and watch the video. She’s never terribly forthcoming about everyone she’s had affairs with– but Dave has said, in past interviews that when he first met her, they had an affair. He was very infatuated by her back then and he admits they slept together.
For what it is worth, “something” happened in the making of In Your Dreams and the more I listen to it– I sense something was rekindled. “Even if I left my girlfriend… ”
Stevie doing what she wants, when she wants– love it!
I’ve been enjoying reading all the comments made here almost as much as your original article. I was lucky enough to have had 2 different girlfriends in the past who both had similar insights and shared the same kind of passion as you seem to have for the Stevie/Lindsey unrequited love affair. I’d be curious to hear what you think of “It was I” off of Lindsey’s Law and Order, “I Still Miss Someone” off of Stevie’s The Other Side of the Mirror, and “Shut Us Down” off of Lindsey’s Under the Skin. They could all easily go into your next Top 10 list. I’d even say there’s something still going on there some 36+ years later, wouldn’t you?
I’d like to think there is something still going on, but I’m not sure. I definitely don’t think their is a physical relationship, but an emotional one? Probably. I think if someone was a very important love in your life, it’s hard to 100% truly let them go.
“I Still Miss Someone” was actually a cover song, but she was likely thinking about someone when singing it – and given the lyrics about missing someone with blue eyes it could be about Lindsey.
Whst about Planets of the Universe? … One of the angriest songs Stevie wrote about Lindsay … Years later she inserted a few verses before recording to include reconciliation “No doubt no pain come ever again, well let there be light in the lifetime, in the cool silent moments of the nighttime “
You know, I’m not as familiar with that song! I’ll check it out! Thanks!
I disagree that Planets of the Universe is an angry song. I agree that it is about Buckingham (she wrote the original demo, No Light, around Runours). Anyway, if you listen to the early demos (available on the Rumors rereleases), she sounds more depressed: “If I had my life to live over, I would never dream” and “you and I will simply disappear out of sight” and “I will never love again the way I loved you; you will never rule again the way you ruled me.”
She does get angry at bit: “disappear through the air, I wish you gone and I don’t care”
Probably one of my favorite demos. The released version isn’t half as good.
The first ‘Planets of the Universe’ demo on the “Rumours” re-issue {not the piano-based version} really sums up the attitude of that song, put there is a final recording that comes pretty close – the extended album version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Res0Tt_0Yw&fmt=18
Really enjoyed reading this!
I’m with most people though, ‘Angel’ was definitely about Mick not Lindsey. I even have an audio clip of her describing the ‘I still look up’ and ‘I try not to reach out’ bits and saying they were about Mick. The other songs though, 100% about Lindsey.
‘Thrown Down’ without a doubt is about Lindsey, and VERY revealing given what the ‘decision’ was and why he was ‘going home’. I’m surprised she admitted it really as it must have been hard for his girlfriend (now wife) to hear!
“Thrown Down” is extremely revealing! I’ve read a lot of speculation about that song, but from what all the folks are saying on my blog, I guess it IS about Lindsey. Do you think that line “a decision no one makes and now you’re going home” is about Lindsey’s gf getting pregnant?
I believe Lindsey’s song “Come” from the Say You Will album is about Stevie … “Think of me every time you don’t come” and “God is in the guest room” … He’s clearly annoyed with her
This is really great. So refreshing to read another fan and clear shipper’s thoughts. 😉
Yay! Thanks for stopping by!
I’m bookmarking this post for a closer read later.
I’m not sure I’d call myself a shipper. Past 1997, the only thing I want to imagine them doing together is holding hands. Above the table. With a chaperone.
Always loved that Rumours was basically a call and response album with everyone writing about each other — even John, making the most important decision of naming it Rumours! (Instead of Yesterday’s Gone)
I try to not assume that every song Stevie writes is about Lindsey because of the number of romances she had after him. The booty call aspect of SHN always made me laugh for that reason. Kinda like, call me so I can be the one to turn YOU down, haha!
I have to say I’ve watched the interview they did for launch of The Dance on youtube several times. Stevie and Lindsey’s body language is so mesmerising. He constantly touches her and the nostalgic walks down memory lane and the fondness for talking about Buckingham/Nicks time and working together hint to me that the romantic relationship and the chemistry they achieved working together is intrinsically linked for Lindsey. It was/is all still bound up together. I think at the time that was recorded his now wife was not pregnant. Makes me wonder if either or both of them thought there was still a remote chance for them
Have you ever heard her demo Smile at You? that is Stevie’s angry song. Love it!
Oh, I haven’t! I will have to check it out! Thanks!
So much fun to read. I would have had to add the following:
Go Insane (“And I go insane, like I always do, and I call your name, she’s a lot like you.”) Had a blast reading this blog and the comments. Thanks Dear!
Can I just say THANK YOU for writing this scrumptious blog? I’m so happy that there’s someone else out there in the world who is as obsessed as I am with these two. I’m sitting here, gobbling your blog up after attending their concert at the Hollywood Bowl tonight. They hugged a lot and held hands, and it’s just so fascinating! Thanks for pulling all this info together — it was exactly what I was scouring Google for! 🙂 🙂
Rianna I was at the Hollywood Bowl show too! It was amazing!
The best concert I’ve ever been to. Magic in the air.
This was great to read. I think they have a serious connection that will not let go ever. I am sure he loves his pretty young wife and family but Stevie will always be a huge love to him too. Maybe it’s just a deep emotional bond without hooking up but … It’s there. It runs deep. Stevie alludes to his darkness … He is brilliant, temperamental and not that great to his women ( in his young buck days) and she knows it would be a bad marriage.
I love both of them. Great music and great life lessons. Viva FM !
this is a great post!!! i was at the show on june 14 in chicago and stevie and lindsey connected on stage more than ever.. i know there’s still something between them after all of these years and to see it in person on stage is so chilling!
Thanks for being there, my co-FM fan, and of Stevie and Lindsay, Ms. Hipstercrite! Take a look at my (musical) weblink. I also happen to have an English website, here: http://jonvalurjensson.livejournal.com/
Cheerio, deario. 🙂
And viva FM !
Great post!
You don’t happen to know of an obscure folky cover version of Dreams that was a music blog a few years back? it was a duo, featured flutes, very, very low-fi and not famous artists… I had the mp3 and have since lost and cannot find it anywhere! Tks
Why did you not include the song “No Questions Asked” written by Stevie, seems like it’s all about Lindsey. Great Post, thanks
Does anybody think their onstage swooning and touching is a bit of an act? I sometimes think so. But I also have my eyes peeled for every gesture. In publicity photos, they are usually touching, unlike she and John or she and Mick. It would be hard to be Mrs. Buckingham and have that to deal with. I’d ask him to tone it down, even if he claimed it was “just showbiz.”
So many of Linsey’s recent songs show a man in deep retrospection of his past, both with Stevie and of his upbring and childhood. These songs are so powerful in that way and made even more beautiful, but one hopes that their sadness and sense of loss does not always permeate Buckingham’s mind. He has the look of someone still tormented. Hopefully, he at times remembers his being adored by so many. We want him to be happy.
I think they were the BEST, Brings.back Alot of memories.Love Fleetwood mac but Stevie a d Linsey were GREAT TOGETHER AND STILL ARE..KEEP.ROCKING AND NEVER. GIVE UP YOU MAY ONE DAY BE ON THAT BEACH HOUSE TOGETHER IN YOUR.LATER!!!! DAYS… LOVE.YOU. GUYS
Jan and Hank ……. Are you out there????
I’m so happy I found your post! I also think Tusk was their best album, totally underrated but it was probably impossible to follow the success of Rumours. Beautiful Child was my favorite Stevie song off that album, although I think it was about Mick. While Lindsey’s songs were angry and Stevies were sad, Christine’s songs were happy and optomistic. Honey Hi is my favorite, I think it was about Dennis Wilson. I got tickets December 10th can’t wait!
I love that you know all of this stuff and I love Fleetwood Mac they are my favorite of all time! I cry just thinking about them please follow me on Instagram if u have one “llofromthe570”
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Listen to ‘Down on Rodeo’ from Lindsey’s Under the Skin album. A brief history of their relationship on that song!
The only group of 5 people playing music with whom I have actually cried while listening to and in their concerts, the many times I have seen them. I was experiencing a relationship of my own in which many of the lyrics fit for many years, with the in’s and out’s of main characters, the life-altering grief and sadness and anger I felt, the release of my focus only to be tested and my peace shattered by the re-entry of my love… the years of not being able to let go… of hoping… Seeing Stevie and Lindsey through the years gave me hope that I might rejoin my lover and live my life again wrapped in the passion I once knew. I love that they can work together giving the fans like me what they can give us showing that love changes form… but it goes on forever. Thank you Stevie and Lindsey. I love you.
I believe Lindsey’s song “Come” from the Say You Will album is about her … “Think of me every time you don’t come” and “God is in the guest room” … He’s clearly annoyed with her
Beautiful Child Is About The Beatles ManagEr Whom She Had An Affair With. She Admitted This During A Question And Answer Session On HeR In Your Dreams Movie Events.
For What It’s With Worth Is About ThE Drummer For CSN Who Came With Her On Street Angel Tour. Again This Is In IYD Documentary
Lindsey’s song “Come” is not about Stevie. It is about Anne Heche. They met on a flight to LA and went together for a year or so. Lindsey writes about her delusions and her twisted ways. Below is a helpful link. Scroll down to trivia
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000162/bio
Say Goodbye broke my I cried when I read that. But I really want to know who Stars are Crazy is about
Hoping it was about Stevie
oh. my.
this took me back to my lime green (before lime green was a “retro” color) high school bedroom…
with FM posters on the wall! I could feel the huge headphones pressing in on my head as I looked at the Rumours album sleeve cover for the thousandth time! (cause we didn’t have the internet…for pictures).
I couldn’t decide if I loved Stevie or Lindsey more 😉
Thanks for this walk down memory lane.
You are correct….pure awesomeness!!
Just getting updated on all of this! But, in any case, watching the live concert from Boston (I think) that already happened. She has good taste in that Guitar man for sure! Amazing how that lead to so many great songs from both sides!
I love FM and especially Stevie & Lindsey. I really believe (and have read snippets here and there) that Stevie really did love Lindsey and didn’t want to break up with him but his continuing heavy handed treatment of Stevie led her to break off with him. I read that Angel is about Mick and Sara snout the aborted baby . After Lindsey left the band Stevie had nothing to do with Lindsey right through to the Clinton inauguration and then only briefly got together to record the song Twisted for the movie and then nothing until they met up with the rest of the band to record/tour The Dance where if is thought that Stevie and Lindsey reconnected and were seriously thinking of getting together again until Kristen then dropped her pregnancy bombshell and I honestly think that is why Stevie sung Silver Springs to Lindsey the way she did (The Dance) as she realised that a new relationship with Lindsey was never going to happen now. I also read an article in The Guardian (2015) that went with an interview with Chris McVie where she stated that the onstage singing to each other (Stevie & Lindsey? and the holding hands was all an act and that both of them still did not get on and avoided each other off stage wherever possible and that is why Stevue hasn’t committed to another Album because she has had enough of him !!!
love this article! I have always been a huge fan. I thought I’d share this little tidbit. I was at a Stevie Nicks concert and she was about to song Landside. She told the crowd, “my father always thought this was about him and I didn’t have the heart to tell him otherwise. But now that he has passed away. I can finally say was it was really about.” She went on to explain it was about a love affair and getting older. Etc. I took pictures of her singing this song. When I looked at them later. There were orbs of
Light everywhere. Some believe in the afterlife. Some don’t. But if you do, I’d suspect her father was there listening.
“If they offered studies in Fleetwood Mac, I’d have a PhD”
Thanks for the laugh! 🙂
Stevie has stated several times that Angel was written about Mick Fleetwood and her affair with him.
Just want to say how glad I am that i
I stumbled upon your post. I have also been mesmerized by Stevie and Lindsay for many years and still find them fascinating. I would love to see them reunited romantically. I wouldn’t dismiss it but my daughter thinks i wear rose tinted glasses when I think of them. One thing is certain though. Their stormy lifelong dramas have produced the most amazing songs. I love them all but my 2 personal favourites are landslide and say goodbye. I rarely cry so if I feel in the mood to, those are the videos I watch. Nothing like a good bubble to cheer you up. Thanks again for your so interesting post. I so enjoyed it and can’t wait to tell my daughter it’s not only me who believes in fairytales 💖
My husband and I just separated a week ago. As an engagement present he took me to see Fleetwood Mac in Nashville 10yrs ago. At one point we were standing holding each other, foreheads touching singing the song along with Stevie&Lyndsey. At a break in the lyrics we turn to look at the stage. They were holding each other the same way we were, looking into each other’s eyes. We all know the rumors Stevie is a witch. Whether she is or not i don’t know, but this witch felt her heart in mine. I could see the same love in Lynsey’s as my Tron’s held. I swear we have had the same type of wildly passionate love. It’s so painful to love this much. To lose yourself in someone who doesn’t see your assets as a gift but as something to be threatened by. The hostility, the breaking of one heart string at a time until your soul is raw. I don’t know if we can fix this. What makes it worse is he has terminal cancer. The decline hasn’t started, and i can’t bare life without him from being dead. At the same time he’s making life so unbearable for me. The emotionally and mental abuse is crushing me. He’s not the man I knew, and I’m broken at thinking of being without him, but I don’t live with him. I feel thrm in my soul.