The song that came to Stevie Nicks in a dream
Stevie Nicks, the vocalist for Fleetwood Mac, has been a lifelong songwriter, with melodies and lyrics often bursting forth unexpectedly from her mind. This craft is one she constantly refines, exploring new approaches and techniques. In a testament to the unpredictable nature of her creative process, Nicks has even experienced moments where songs emerge fully formed from her dreams.
Of course, Nicks isn’t the first artist to have used sleep as songwriting inspiration. In the case of her late Fleetwood Mac bandmate Christine McVie, while attempting to rest her eyes one evening, she was awoken by the thought of a new song. Unable to think about anything else, McVie took herself to the piano and ‘Songbird‘ rushed out of her pores.
Furthermore, Paul McCartney saw his late mother in a dream, which provided the nucleus for The Beatles’ classic track ‘Let It Be‘. Although, in his case, the track wasn’t a fully formed composition, the spiritual visitation provided the fuel McCartney needed to produce one of the Fab Four’s most beloved tracks.
In the case of Nicks, the idea of ‘Show Them The Way’ came to her in a dream around 2008, but it remained unreleased until 2020. The origin of the politically charged track dates back to the Democratic primaries. Nicks was consumed by the news and spent every minute of the waking day thinking about the upcoming election, which also impacted her dreams.
“One night, I had a dream that was so real, I was pretty sure it had happened. It’s a cinematic story; it had a beginning, a middle and an end, and every detail, every colour, every smile was there. And I wrote the story when I woke up,” Nicks explained to Variety.
In the dream, Nicks performed at a private party full of influential political figures, which she turned into a poem once she woke up from her slumber and eventually evolved the creation into a song. However, despite holding great fondness for ‘Show Them The Way’, it remained unreleased until the 2020 election, which pitted Joe Biden against Donald Trump.
Upon releasing the track, she said: “It’s the first time that I’ve really written a song that was not just a really good song, but it was a really good song with a purpose. And so I’m hoping that they keep playing it, and then it actually does what I sent it out into the world to do.”
While memories of most dreams are patchy, Nicks had a crystal clear recollection of everything that occurred, telling ABC that it was “so real” and “the only dream I ever had that actually had a beginning, a middle and an end, and I totally remembered every little bit of it”.
In the immediate aftermath of the dream, Nicks knew she had landed upon something incredibly profound, and due to world events, the lyrical content on ‘Show Them The Way’ had become increasingly relevant. The track is a message of hope, vital in 2020 as America faced the possible re-election of Trump and tried to adjust to the new normal due to the pandemic. However, despite the dark reality, Nicks provided an injection of optimism that provided sweet relief.
