Metaphors in music helps us to simulate or portray a tone, an attitude, or an intensity of a scenario. It can help to clarify or define a feeling of an experience.
Stevie Nicks “Landslide” lyrics are an excellent example:
Before teaming up with Fleetwood Mac, Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were struggling in poverty, living in a friend’s house near a mountain in Aspen Colorado. They were trying to succeed as a duo called “Buckingham and Nicks”. Stevie created music and Lindsay paired with her to produce recordings. He also filled in as a studio musician when he could. Stevie became a waitress and a cleaning lady to survive.
One of Stevie’s musical creations was picked up and recorded at a major studio where they both enjoyed meeting famous musical performers. Their recording was brilliant. They felt they were near the top of their snow-covered mountain, However, their brilliant recording flopped. No one else liked it.
They felt as if they were swept down the mountain in a landslide.
Stevie was at the point where she thought “I can’t do better than this, but I must continue.” So, she started on the lyrics to “Landslide” and said, “I lived on a snowy mountain in Aspen, and I told Lindsay We’re going to the top.”
Landslide, written about herself, her personal struggles, and her relationship with Lindsay is metaphorically hers throughout. Even so, most people interpreting the lyrics, think her song was written about them. She followed Landslide with “Rhiannon”, and within a year, Mick Fleetwood, realizing their talent, asked them to join his group Fleetwood Mac. They made $ 800 per week. With Stevie’s songwriting talent, and Mick Fleetwood’s arrangements, the band enjoyed top ten best-selling records alongside the Beatles, Rolling stones, and the Eagles.
“I lived on a snowy mountain in Aspen, and I told Lindsay “We’re going to the top.” With determination and persistence, they did.
Google: “Stevie Nicks Landslide Lyrics” and see how well her metaphors describe her difficult times. She metaphorically describes how she is trying to handle her relationship, her career, and her fears, as they force her to grow.
Sources: Stevie Nicks. Q Magazine, January 2004
Sources: Stevie Nicks, Performing Songwriter Magazine, 2003
Sources: Stevie Nicks, The Source, 1981
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