The Taylor Swift song that reminds Stevie Nicks of Christine McVie
Taylor Swift has never lost her touch when writing deeply personal songs. Although she may have more than a few hits that have been overplayed to death, her greatest strength as a songwriter is writing vivid stories about genuine relationships that can leave any listener in shambles by the time the song is over. Even though Swift had made strides as one of the biggest stars in the world by the 2010s, she was looking to expand her craft even further down the road.
Before she had started re-recording her older albums, Swift was still reinventing herself with every project. Though starting in the world of country, Red blew everything wide open for her, dabbling in genres as varied as country, pop, electronic and everything in between. While Reputation saw her embrace the jaded pop star character across its runtime, Lover was the return to form that most fans needed.
After working her way through the sounds of indie music on her albums Evermore and Folklore, Midnights saw Swift being as openly honest about her struggles as possible. While she had already dissected what it meant to be one of the biggest pop stars in the world albums before, tracks like ‘Anti-Hero’ were an authentic look into Swift’s psyche, saying that even she was wondering whether she was the source of her life’s problems.
Throughout the rest of the album, Swift delivers a bold exploration of her relationship with fame, balancing the honest side of herself in her songwriting with the kind of details that are best kept private. While Swift could still keep her audience at a distance when she wanted to, ‘You’re On Your Own Kid’ was as blunt as ever.
Even though Swift is trying her best to play it cool throughout the verses, it’s easy to see that she feels more alone than ever before, thinking she finally has to face the world without a security blanket. While this kind of song could apply to anyone starting to discover the realities of life, no one related to the song more than Stevie Nicks.
Shortly after the album came out, Nicks dealt with the shock of a lifetime when Christine McVie passed away. More than just the keyboardist for Fleetwood Mac, McVie had served as Nicks’ anchor throughout her time in the group, always having a friend to work off of when not arguing with Lindsey Buckingham over their relationship.
When talking about her favourite songs, Nicks would thank Swift for writing ‘You’re On Your Own Kid’ because of how well it applied to her relationship with McVie, telling Louder, “When it was the two of us, the two of us were on our own, kids, we always were. And now, I’m having to learn to be on my own, kid, by myself. So, you help me to do that. Thank you”.
Nicks would also say that she sees herself in many of Swift’s best songs, telling TIME, “Taylor reminds me of myself in her determination and her childlike nature. It’s an innocence that’s so special and so rare”.
While Swift has been able to write songs from her personal experiences, she is also continuing the tradition of writing emotionally vulnerable songs that can touch listeners right on their wounds.
