“It’s charming”: The heartfelt Stevie Nicks song Lindsey Buckingham always adored
Having the right chemistry on stage is sometimes the difference between a good performance and a great one. If the energy feels palpable, it draws the audience in further, engaging them into their intimate world on pure immersion alone. While Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham seem ringleaders in the art of on-stage charisma, they had to work hard to achieve such a feat, especially in the beginning when nothing felt certain.
Even back then, however, Nicks always seemed like a beacon, drawing people in on personality alone. She had the talent and drive to make it, but her charm and wit made her stand out, allowing others to recognise the qualities that aren’t always as easily detectable in other collaborators. For instance, when meeting with Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood about the possibility of joining Fleetwood Mac, the test wasn’t solely about her musicianship—it was about whether she clicked with Christine or not.
Had she not gotten on with her future musical partner so easily, she wouldn’t have become a coveted part of their new lineup, despite her extensive research and preparation beforehand, which made her more equipped for the job than many. On top of that, the new venture was entirely her idea, while Buckingham tagged along with far less enthusiasm, even though it was a guaranteed career saver.
Before then, Nicks and Buckingham worked together on music that transformed different things into musical art, whether inspired by personal experiences, pre-existing stories, or literature by established writers. This predated the fiery exchanges that defined Rumours and the darker endeavours that derailed their entire partnership, with the foundations of Nicks and Buckingham’s relationship centring mainly on the simplicity of mutual respect and motivation.
While these qualities have appeared to varying degrees throughout the years, Buckingham’s respect for Nicks in the early days seemed entirely unconditional, particularly when it came to her taking creative liberties that others might have deemed inappropriate or unworthy of commercial attention. Still, Nicks had her head down most of the time, writing poems and lyrics that were honest manifestations of her heart, even if they rarely ventured anywhere further than the page they emerged from.
One was ‘Without You’, the song that began as a poem, which Nicks wrote before they started work on the Buckingham Nicks record. Although it remained a forgotten composition for a while, it captured a moment in time when Nicks’ relationship with Buckingham was at its best, or purest, free from the burdens of heated disagreements or a deeply embedded inability to see eye to eye. “It was a beautiful time,” Nicks later reflected. “And it was when we were really young and beautiful and in love.”
The song means a lot to Nicks, not only because of its meaning back then but because she gets a chance to revisit every now and then, and it seems Buckingham holds it dear just as much as she does. Although introducing the track on stage starts what she views as a longwinded story about their past, Buckingham reassured her of its necessity, and how prefacing it with their beautiful journey only makes the performance hit harder.
As she recalled to Mojo: “Every night I tell the story of ‘Without You’, the poem that I wrote in 1972 before we made the Buckingham Nicks album. The story has become longer than the song, and I told Lindsey, ‘I’m sorry, I’m trying to shorten it.’ He goes, ‘Don’t worry, Stevie – it’s charming.’ Three years ago he would have been like, ‘Are you kidding? We could do The Green Manalishi in that time…'”
