Fleetwood Mac’s musical direction – and eventual legacy – heavily changed when lovers Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined the band. The band’s leader Mick Fleetwood initially only invited Buckingham, but he refused to join unless his girlfriend could too. A good decision from Buckingham, because Stevie Nicks eventually wrote some of Fleetwood Mac’s biggest hits. One of those songs is the beautiful “Landslide”. In this article, we’ll explore the story, meaning, and legacy behind the iconic song!
The Story Behind the Song
“Landslide’s” story began before Buckingham and Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac. Together the duo released their first studio album as Buckingham Nicks, and were set to record their second album.
But their plans were disrupted when Buckingham accepted an invitation from The Everly Brothers to tour with them. Nicks wasn’t happy with Buckingham’s decision, but still drove him out to mountain village Aspen, where the rehearsals took place.
When Buckingham left to tour with The Everly Brothers, Nicks decided to stay in Aspen. During this 2-month period, she fell into heavy doubt about her musical career and relationship with Buckingham.
Her first album with Buckingham failed, and Nicks had doubts if the two were capable of doing any better. Besides that, Buckingham was now living the high-life touring with the Everly Brothers, while she was left behind alone in Aspen.
Nicks was afraid her already troublesome relationship with Buckingham wouldn’t last, and that everything would’ve been for nothing, destroying her dream of becoming a successful musician.
Nicks’ parents were also concerned with her musical endeavors. Her father advised her to give it six more months before returning to school.
“I had gotten to a point where it was like, ‘I’m not happy. I am tired,” Nicks told Performing Songwriter magazine in 2003. “But I don’t know if we can do any better than this (referring to their first album). If nobody likes this, then what are we going to do?”
Nicks had to make the most crucial decision of her career. Should she continue pursuing a musical career with Buckingham, or quit and go back to school?
Read more: The 10 Best Fleetwood Mac Songs of All Time
“So during that two months I made a decision to continue. “Landslide” was the decision.”… “In one of my journal entries, it says: ‘I took Lindsey and said, We’re going to the top!'”
She reportedly wrote the song in about 5 minutes, and was inspired by Aspen’s impressive nature.
“When you’re in Colorado, and you’re surrounded by these incredible mountains, you think avalanche,” Nicks said during the radio program In the Studio with Red Beard. “It meant the whole world could tumble around us and the landslide would bring you down.”
Nicks’ decision to continue paid off, because three months after writing “Landslide”, Mick Fleetwood invited the duo to join Fleetwood Mac, well within her father’s advised 6-month period.
The Meaning of The Song
Stevie Nicks wrote “Landslide” about the fear and risk of losing everything in pursuit of a dream. The song uses metaphors inspired by Aspen’s nature.
The mountain that is climbed symbolizes the pursuit of a dream, the ‘reflection in the snow-covered hills’ symbolizes Nicks self-reflecting on her dream, and the ‘landslide’ symbolizes the failure and collapse of the dream.
At the end of the song, Nicks advises her ‘love’, which obviously represents Lindsey Buckingham, to take the same climb. She tells him that if he sees her ‘reflection in the snow-covered hills’, it is just a matter of time before the ‘landslide’ will take it down.
It showcases Stevie Nicks’ belief that she and Buckingham, despite their troublesome relationship, had to stick together as a team. Because only together they can conquer the mountain that represents their dream.
Stevie Nicks admitted to Q magazine the song was written about her and Lindsey Buckingham: “I wrote it (Landslide) for Lindsey – for him, about him. It’s dear to both of us because it’s about us. We’re out there singing about our lives.”
The Song’s Legacy
“Landslide” was eventually released on Fleetwood Mac’s tenth studio album Fleetwood Mac (1975). It was the band’s first album with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. The song wasn’t released as a single and had no commercial success.
23 years after the song’s release, Fleetwood Mac released “Landslide” as a single on their live album The Dance (1997). It reached number 51 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Despite the original “Landslide’s” lack of commercial success, it became one of the band’s most well-known and beloved tracks. Part of its popularity came from a cover version of The Dixie Chicks. Their version of “Landslide” became a major hit and reached number 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Over the years, “Landslide” became one of Fleetwood Mac’s most iconic songs. The timeless song remains a fan favorite and is a testament to Stevie Nicks’ greatness.
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