“It was like we had gone back in time”: the song Stevie Nicks said closed generational gaps
Many of Stevie Nicks‘ biggest hits tell intriguing stories, often about significant turning points in her career or her relationships with her friends or collaborators. This quality is one of the most endearing aspects of her appeal, but some of her songs are more straightforward, focusing on a single setting where great musicians come together to create great music.
Nicks is best celebrated today for her contributions to Fleetwood Mac. Together, they created music that centred around many of the things that still resonate today, including relationship hardships, difficulties finding yourself or your voice, frustrations with others, and falling into the depths of unhealthy habits like drug addiction. Each member brought their own unique qualities, but Nicks’ whimsical nature enhanced their emotional depth and gave the music a certain charm that the others just couldn’t emulate.
While some great examples are ‘Rhiannon’, ‘Landslide’, ‘Silver Springs’, and ‘Dreams’, Nicks also excelled as a solo artist, allowing her ethereal disposition to flourish without restriction. Many of her themes and messages aren’t as easy to decipher in her solo work as it is in Fleetwood Mac, but this added an intriguing layer of mystique to her music, drawing you closer into her weird and wonderful world.
For The Wild Heart, Nicks enlisted help from an array of high-profile musicians, including Tom Petty, Mick Fleetwood, Steve Lukather, and more, enriching her sound with the sensibilities and flair of others. It also invited audiences from all over, with the younger and older generations all finding something to attach themselves to, whether a specific artist collaboration or Nicks’ endearing voice or lyricism, giving it a universal quality that wasn’t always present throughout Bella Donna.
Many of the songs also spoke to Nicks’ experience growing up in a high-pressure environment, like ‘When The Glitter Fades’, or paid homage to the deep connections she felt at the time, like ‘Leather and Lace’. However, others, like ‘Beauty and the Beast’, saw her implementing a richer dose of creativity, inspired by the classic movie and representing her broader views on life in the spotlight.
To Nicks, fame was dichotomous, with things either appearing good or bad. In her mind, experiences and people were either beauty or they were beasts, but sometimes they could be both. In the song, she addresses the idea that it’s not always easy to tell, posing questions as direct as: “Who is the beauty, who the beast?” While presenting contrasting concepts like: “Timeless is the creature who is wise / And timeless is the prisoner in disguise.”
Recording the song, Nicks later appreciated how it banded together people from all over for one perfect moment of collaboration. “We recorded this live in New York,” she shared for the Timespace liner notes, “with Roy Bittan playing grand piano, and Paul Buckmaster doing the strings and conducting the orchestra, and me and the background singers, all at the same time.”
Noting the obvious convergence of all ages, she added: “It was like we had gone back in time; we all wore long black dresses, and served champagne, and recorded it all in one room. When it was over, I walked out with this elderly gentleman who played violin, and the generation gap ceased to exist.”
Beyond its storytelling appeal, perhaps this also alludes to the song’s universal appeal and its endearing musical quality compounded by the magic of the original recording session. Just like in that moment, the song bridges the gap between generations and other listener variables with a story about the convoluted nature of everyday life and the prospect of one day figuring it all out. As Nicks reflected: “Who is the beauty, and who is the beast?” Which one of you? Have you ever really been able to answer that? I have, it took a long time, but I did finally find the answer.”
