Landslide (song)
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| “Landslide” | ||
|---|---|---|
| Song by Fleetwood Mac | ||
| Album | Fleetwood Mac | |
| Recorded | 1975 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 3:05 | |
| Label | Reprise | |
| Writer | Stevie Nicks | |
| Producer | Fleetwood Mac Keith Olsen |
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"Landslide" is a song written by Stevie Nicks and performed by Fleetwood Mac. It was first featured on the band's 1975 album Fleetwood Mac. It is a favorite amongst both Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks fans, and has been successfully interpreted by artists in different musical genres.
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[edit] Fleetwood Mac version
[edit] Meaning
The meaning of the song is ambiguous, which has likely added to its appeal.
Initially, it sounds like a tale of a woman whose children have grown, and who now questions whether to remain with her lover. However, given that Stevie Nicks has said that she wrote the song in Aspen, Colorado in 1974, when she was just 26, this interpretation seems implausible.
It seems as though Stevie is singing about her own life and her growth from child to young adult. When it comes time to move from home and abandon the lifeline she has known as a child, she wonders whether she can make it on her own. Stevie Nicks herself has said that when she performed "Landslide", she was contemplating what to do with her life, and it was in response to her inability to become successful in the music industry.
One might also interpret the song as one about Stevie Nicks' drug abuse, specifically in the line "I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills," referring to the singer seeing her reflection in a mirror covered in cocaine. However, this interpretation is doubtful as Nicks didn't join Fleetwood Mac until 1975 and was unlikely an addict until years later. It was at the end of the Australian tour in 1986 that Nicks checked herself into the Betty Ford Center to recuperate and ween herself off of her all-consuming cocaine addiction.
Stevie has said that she wrote this song while she was contemplating going back to school or continuing on with Lindsey. She wrote this song while visiting Aspen, Colorado with her Goya guitar. She was sitting in someone's living room, overlooking the snow-covered mountains and thinking what to do with her life. She says that she "sat looking out at the Rocky Mountains pondering the avalanche of everything that had come crashing down on us...at that moment, my life truly felt like a landslide in many ways." These comments are in relation to Buckingham Nicks being dropped by the label and the fact that she and Lindsey were not getting along. She says she "wrote Landslide about whether or not [she] was going to give it all one more chance.[1]
[edit] The Dance
At the start of her 1997 live performance of "Landslide" with Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks said "This is for you, Daddy," dedicating the song to her father, who was in the audience that night.[2]
The 1997 Fleetwood Mac reunion captured on their The Dance live album and DVD made "Landslide" a featured number, with only Nicks and former partner Lindsey Buckingham on acoustic guitar on stage. Nicks made some wry gestures regarding the (now past) youthfulness of the lyric, and kissed Buckingham at the end. Released as a single, this version became popular for airplay on adult contemporary radio stations. Many Fleetwood Mac fans consider this to be the definitive version of "Landslide" (rather than the original album version).
[edit] Personnel
- Christine McVie - Keyboards - on live performances between 1975-1982
- Mick Fleetwood & John McVie did not feature on either version of the song.
[edit] Cover versions
Alternative rockers The Smashing Pumpkins made an acoustic cover of the song that was featured on their 1994 B-side collection Pisces Iscariot. The cover was a hit and made it to the top three on the Modern Rock Tracks chart in the U.S. that year. It was later featured in the Alias episode "Page 47", as well on the FOX's short-lived series Reunion episode "1994" and the Cold Case episode "Detention". The original version would be used in a later episode "Fireflies".
Singer-songwriter Tori Amos has covered the song in concerts since 1994 during her Pink Tour. The album Y100 Sonic Sessions: volume 1, released in 1997, includes a live version recorded on January 1st, 1996.
| “Landslide” | |||||
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| Single by Dixie Chicks from the album Home |
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| Released | 2002 | ||||
| Format | CD | ||||
| Recorded | 2001-2002 | ||||
| Genre | Country | ||||
| Length | 3:50 | ||||
| Label | Sony | ||||
| Writer(s) | Stevie Nicks | ||||
| Producer | Dixie Chicks, Lloyd Maines | ||||
| Dixie Chicks singles chronology | |||||
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The country group Dixie Chicks then covered "Landslide" on their 2002 Home album. This rendition, featuring the group's trademark two- and three-part harmonies and country phrasings, was very popular, reaching the Top 10 of both the pop (#7) and country charts (#2) as well as several other charts. The Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines said she was attracted in part to the song because she was then the same age that Nicks was when she performed it. A deluxe edition of Home contained a remixed version of this "Landslide", done by Sheryl Crow. The Chicks then created yet another arrangement of the song, using inverted harmonies, for performance on their 2006 Accidents & Accusations Tour.
Belle and Sebastian also covered the song.
Red Hot Chili Peppers' guitarist John Frusciante has covered "Landslide" during his solo concerts.
Joey McIntyre has also covered "Landslide" in his live album, One Too Many: Live from New York released in 2003.
Ari Hest recorded a live solo version of the song.
Jazz singer Stacey Kent has also covered "Landslide" on her album Breakfast on the Morning Tram
Venice has covered the song on their album Spin art in 1999
Australian singer-songwriter Lior covered the song for the compliation album No Man's Woman in 2007.
[edit] Charts
[edit] Dixie Chicks version
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 25 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 7 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 | 9 |
| UK Singles Chart | 55 |
[edit] References
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