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Madison Rosenbauer

Dean Leonard

English 1201.511

14 February 2020

Landslide by Fleetwood Mac and Dixie Chicks

“Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac and covered by Dixie Chicks had the same meaning

behind the song, but the videos show two different ways of the meaning behind the song. They

were recorded in different eras of music. “Landslide” was written in 1973 by Stevie Nicks who is

a part of Fleetwood Mac, but no one really knew the meaning behind the song. Was it about her

father or was it about the flow of her life? The song was then covered by the Dixie Chicks in

2002 because the head singer Natalie Maines fell in love with the song and she was around the

same age as Stevie Nicks when they covered the song. “Landslide” is a story about finding

yourself and knowing when it is time to end a relationship or move on with your life.

When Fleetwood Mac performs the song on stage in the official music video, Nicks says,

“this is for you daddy.” Everyone wondered then what the song was really about, which is why

they asked if the song was written for him. The song was written around the time her father was

going into surgery, which is why the lyrics can sound a little personal. She wrote the song when

she was contemplating going back to school or continuing on with her guitarist Lindsey

Buckingham. The two had been dropped by Polydor Records, Nicks and Buckingham were not

getting along at the time. She wrote the song while visiting Aspen, Colorado in a friend's living

room looking out at the Rocky Mountains and she was pondering over everything that came

crashing down on them, at that moment she said her life truly felt like a landslide in many ways.
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Stevie Nicks' approach to the song really got Lindsey Buckingham's attention as to why

Nicks wrote the song. The lyrics to “Landslide” came along when Stevie was faced with the fear

of losing everything for a dream:

Well, I’ve been afraid of changing

‘Cause I’ve built myself around you

But times makes you bolder

Even children get older and I’m getting older too

Oh, I’m getting older too.

When she is singing these lyrics, she is singing about the situation with her and Lindsey.

They then performed this song shortly before they became part of Fleetwood Mac. Stevie says

she was tired of being poor and tired of being a waitress because it was just her and Buckingham

writing and singing. “Lindsey and I only had enough money for food,” Stevie says. Living in

poverty puts a strain on their relationship.

The music video of the Dixie Chicks singing “Landslide” shows a different perspective

for me, but still the same meaning behind the song. Natalie Maines, the lead singer of the Dixie

Chicks, sings the part of the struggling women, like Stevie Nicks in a relationship who has to do

some self reflecting. The video is of all the singers in different areas other than with each other,

as if they were living their lives differently. At the end of the video it shows a red door for all of

them to go through where they come together. The lyrics of the song are exactly the same, but

the way they performed the song shows the meaning of the lyrics.

This song was recorded by the Dixie Chicks immediately after their dispute with their

record label, Sony. They claimed that Sony had been depriving them of their true earnings and

were unhappy about it, which led them to sue Sony. This made listeners in country music see a
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different side of the Dixie Chicks. The timing of this song cover couldn’t have come at a better

time for them. Once the dispute was settled, they recorded their album “Home,” which is an

album that has many different covers including “Landslide.” They looked back at Stevie Nicks

as being a strong woman who had to declare herself.

Both versions of “Landslide” had to do with women breaking through and showing their

emotions to the world. I believe this song is geared toward women who have been in a

relationship where they know it is eventually going to die out. Both versions have distinct tastes.

In Stevies version there is only a guitar and violin, which gives it a simple sound and allows her

voice to be heard. In the Dixie Chicks version there are more instrumental elements that you

would find in a traditional country song. Natalie Maines, the lead singer of Dixie Chicks also

emphasized her words and drew them out. They both have special qualities and both draw out

different appeals.

When I heard this song for the first time and even over the years of listening to it, I

thought it had to do with “finding yourself”, but then I realized it's about someone trying to get

out of a relationship. When the lyrics say “take this love and take it down”, the audience of

young people get a feeling that this song is more about deep love rather than anything casual. No

matter what the general understanding of what the song's story is, Fleetwood Mac and Dixie

Chicks showed the emotions of what it really was about.

Works Cited
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Mac, Fleetwood. “Landslide.” YouTube, YouTube, 1975,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM7-PYtXtJM

Chicks, Dixie. “Landslide.” YouTube, YouTube, 2003,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4_wXPZ1Bnk

Johnson, Ros. “‘Landslide’: Evolution and Meaning Of a Major Hit Song.” Minding

Therapy, 11 June 2019, www.mindingtherapy.com/landslide-evolution-meaning/.

Nicks, Stevie. “In Her Own Words.” Stevie Nicks on Landslide, Jan. 2004,

www.inherownwords.com/landslide.htm.