Why Stevie Nicks And Lindsey Buckingham Could Never Write Songs Together
Even if you're not a Fleetwood Mac fan, odds are you've heard in one way or another that the band's history is chalked with interpersonal drama and periodic conflict. There was heartbreak, rage, redemption, and resurgence. The list goes on. Most songwriters would agree that a heap of human emotion like that is something of a topical goldmine for good tunes.
However, things can get problematic when that hot potato of intensity is being tossed back and forth between band members. The romance between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham that forged itself back when the two were still in high school is one of the group's more fabled and infamous courtships, so it's no wonder that some of the band's most celebrated songs were a product of it. "Dreams," one of Nicks' songs that appeared on the album "Rumours," is widely understood to be about her relationship with Buckingham (via Heavy).
The songwriting process is both personal and interdependent at the same time. Finding a happy medium between the two is crucial, but it doesn't always work that way. Sometimes, balance is just out of the question, which is why Nicks claims she can't write songs with Buckingham.
Agree to disagree
Stevie Nicks shared with fans the mindset in which she goes about filtering her words through the musical prism. "The songwriting process for me, I've always kept to myself. I really was very selfish about it; I never really wanted to write with anyone," she said (via Showbiz CheatSheet).
Lyrics are presented in various ways. Some appear in the third person, some in the first. Some take the form of metaphors, while others stay grounded in a more literal context. In any sense, truth is the primary ingredient that mixes it all together.
She often felt that criticism was an adversary to the truth inherent in her words, and Buckingham's cross-checking method involved different pointers and suggestions that simply didn't resonate with his former lover.
"I'm very superstitious," Nicks said. "Once I've written a line — it's like every once in a while, Lindsey will say, 'You know, well you're writing in the third person, and then all of a sudden you flip back into first person. You can't really do that.' And I'm like, 'So would you say that to Bob Dylan?' I snap back at him, you know?"
Perhaps it was residual emotional tension that amounted to her apprehension, but in any case, everybody writes differently. The two simply agreed to stay in their own lane when it was time to put pen to paper. Evidently, that's some of the most effective songwriting musicians can do.