Landslide carries a beauty that transcends the music. I remember the first time I heard it, driving across a bridge in Pittsburgh, PA. I almost had to pull over the car. It's power is immediate. It gets down inside you and touches your soul.
We're all afraid of change in our lives. Big changes. Breaking up with a partner, losing a loved one, or the prospect of our dreams taking abrupt turns or crashing down around us are tragedies that we must face. Even during the best times, fear of change can be an undercurrent gnawing at the back of our minds.
Well, I've been 'fraid of changin'
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm gettin' older, too
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm gettin' older, too
When I hear these lyrics I think of a tragic divorce. A married couple, with children, separating late in life after trying their damndest to make it work and hold it all together. Instead it just falls apart. I hear a vulnerability in her voice. It's like she's becoming a child all over again but this time in middle-age.
There are changes in life that we just cannot predict. This song speaks to me in that place.
You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control what you do.
If Stevie Nicks had not channeled her intense emotion into this art, none of us would be able to receive the message of this beautiful song. Obviously she felt something strongly to inspire her to write this.
"It was written in 1973 at a point where Lindsey [Buckingham] and I had driven to Aspen for him to rehearse for two weeks with Don Everly. Lindsey was going to take Phil’s place. So they rehearsed and left, and I made a choice to stay in Aspen..."
She goes on to explain that, during those months, a record she made with partner Lindsey Buckingham got dropped. They poured their souls into it and thought it was their best work, but no one liked it. She had been working odd jobs as a waitress and cleaning lady to give Lindsey the time to continue crafting the music. She could have given up. She didn't.
"So during that two months I made a decision to continue. “Landslide” was the decision. [Sings] “When you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills”—it’s the only time in my life that I’ve lived in the snow. But looking up at those Rocky Mountains and going, “Okay, we can do it. I’m sure we can do it.”"
It's not what I was expecting, not a divorce, but the fear of loss of a career dream can be felt on a similar level of intensity. Working her whole life to pursue her dream of music and then feeling the fear of their career potentially dropping out from under them right there qualifies as an enormous fear of change. She could have let that fear cripple her, but instead she chose to push forward and channel that fear into something productive. We are better off because of her decision.
