The Prince-inspired song Stevie Nicks loves playing live
Stevie Nicks is one of the best performers of her generation, a powerhouse who still occasionally treats us to her on-stage skills to this day. Her vocal talents are among the greatest in rock and roll history, full of raw emotion without ever compromising on power or control. But she has also captured audiences with elements other than her voice, with her witchy style and her consistently formidable presence behind the microphone.
Nicks played her first show with Fleetwood Mac in the mid-1970s and immediately became an integral part of the soft-rock outfit. She was one of the band’s primary songwriters, penning hits like ‘Dreams’ and ‘Rhiannon’, but she was also one of their best performers. Often standing centre stage, she became the face of the band, performing to the audience with unparalleled intent.
When Nicks began embarking on a solo career, she took up just as much space on-stage as she had while performing with Fleetwood Mac. Tracks like ‘Edge of Seventeen’ and ‘Leather and Lace’ continued to entice audiences as she honed her live presence further. But there was one song that Nicks enjoyed performing more than any other: ‘Stand Back’ from The Wild Heart.
Released as a single in 1983, ‘Stand Back’ pushed Nicks further away from her soft-rock roots. The track paired bright synths with groovy twangs while the Fleetwood Mac frontwoman showed off her rock and roll pipes. “Stand back, stand back,” she urged, “In the middle of my room, I did not hear from you, it’s alright, it’s alright, to be standing in a line.”
Nicks penned the song on her wedding day in a slightly unusual setting. She had just married Kim Anderson, and the pair were on their way to Santa Barbara when inspiration struck. ‘Little Red Corvette’ by Prince began to play on the radio, a track that also wedded synths with rock soundscapes, and Nicks immediately felt the urge to pull over.
“It just gave me an incredible idea,” she remembered in the liner notes for her compilation album TimeSpace, “So I spent many hours that night writing a song about some kind of a crazy argument, and it was to become one of the most important of my songs.” She even recruited Prince to provide his talents on the synth. It didn’t just become one of her favourite recorded songs; it also became her favourite track to play live.
“I’ve been doing this song for years,” she noted, “Fleetwood Mac does it also, and I never get tired of it. ‘Stand Back’ has always been my favourite song onstage because when it starts, it has an energy that comes from somewhere unknown and it seems to have no timespace. I’ve never quite understood this sound, but I have NEVER questioned it.” And here’s hoping she never does.
It’s easy to see Nicks’ love for the song in recordings of her performing it live throughout her career. Each and every performance of the song shows off her talent as she leans into the microphone and gives it her all. Nicks still incorporates ‘Stand Back’ in her set even now, over four decades after it was first released. It seems as if she may never tire of it, but luckily, neither will her audience.
