The 1981 song Stevie Nicks couldn’t stand: “I never liked it”
Stevie Nicks was never an artist that would just sing for the hell of it. During her time in Fleetwood Mac, as well as her solo career, Nicks was known for exorcising demons from her soul whenever she sang.
She was either putting her best into tracks like ‘Rhiannon’ or trying to make peace with her bandmates on songs like ‘Dreams’. Although Nicks may have a specific calling to make her original music, she could admit when one of her tracks didn’t quite hit the mark.
Before Nicks had started in Fleetwood Mac, though, she was still figuring out where her music would take her with her boyfriend, Lindsey Buckingham. After landing a deal as the duo Buckingham Nicks, the songwriters would find themselves working alongside Fleetwood Mac within the next few years, coming on board after Buckingham got the gig as the group’s guitarist.
Not playing any instrumental role, Nicks would often be confined to the handful of lead vocals she contributed to the record, including the now-classic songs like ‘Landslide’. By the time the band started working on their landmark achievement, Rumours, the wheels had already begun turning for where Nicks would be going.
Although she may have been able to contribute massive songs to both Rumours and the double album Tusk, Nicks wanted the opportunity to flex her muscles as a solo artist, eventually asking the band if it was fine with her decision to fly solo for a while. Balancing both sides of her artistic self, Bella Donna would be one of the first major albums that Nicks had outside her old outfit, featuring classics like ‘The Edge of Seventeen’.
Among the highlights of the record also included a track featuring one of the biggest names in music at the time. Singing a duet with Don Henley of the Eagles, ‘Leather and Lace’ would become one of Nicks’ most celebrated ballads, sounding closer to a country song than her traditional mystic brand of rock and roll.
Although Nicks did like the final version that ended up on the album, she was never that fond of her version of the tune. Written to be played by Waylon Jennings, Nicks thought that the final version lacked much of the emotion she was looking to get out of the tune.
That context shaped how Nicks approached the song, framing it less as a personal outpouring and more as a piece crafted with someone else’s voice in mind. As a result, she felt slightly removed from it, sensing that the emotional core didn’t originate from her in the same way as her other material.
Even so, the finished version resonated widely with audiences. Paired with Don Henley’s vocals, the track took on a warmth and sincerity that elevated it beyond Nicks’ own reservations, becoming one of the standout moments of her solo catalogue despite her lingering doubts.
When talking about the song’s writing, Nicks said that she and Henley weren’t fond of the tune initially, saying, “He never really liked it very much. But see, I never liked it that much either. And I only finished it because Waylon Jennings liked it a lot and wanted it finished. He heard the chorus, and he loved it and said, ‘Please do this,’ and it was the only really disciplined thing I ever did in my life.”
Even though she may have been writing on assignment for the first time in her life, Nicks did put her soul into the final version of the piece. Working perfectly off of Henley’s signature golden throat, Nicks inhabits the track like a seasoned veteran, finally finding a way to take off all her emotional shields for the person she loves. Although Nicks was known to live through most of the songs she wrote, it’s a testament to her writing power that half-baked tracks still sound this good.
