Stevie Nicks Through Good AND BAD

[SapphireSister]

I'm baaaaack (hee hee). I just thought I'd change the overall mood of the board right now and get into something a little heavier. We all know how much Stevie's music has impacted our lives, through both good times and bad. For some of us, it's the only way we could have made it through. I personally have a particular situation in my life (although there are many) in which I felt as if I had nothing more to hope for and Stevie's music was my salvation!

I'm asking those of you who would be willing to share your personal stories of the darker times that Stevie helped you through. Feel free to share details or not, we're all family here ;). Is there a specific song, album, etc. you've attached to that memory?

It always moves me to hear how Stevie touches the lives of others, even at our worst.

[Silver Springs]

I've been going through a bleak time recently with my family for reasons I really don't want to talk about. It hurts too much to. But the old habits, coping mechanisms if you will, of self harm and lack of self preservation have resurfaced in a big way. But I've been finding solace in alot of Stevie's work, though mostly I've been listening to her acoustic music (especially HAEWEFY) and that's been helping me at least maintain a certain level of sanity whilst locked into my own head. Given myself something other than my own bleak thoughts to think about. But somehow I don't think sitting in the park at 1am some nights listening to Stevie is that safe, even if mentally it's saving me at the time. Oh well.

[SapphireSister]

I've been going through a bleak time recently with my family for reasons I really don't want to talk about. It hurts too much to. But the old habits, coping mechanisms if you will, of self harm and lack of self preservation have resurfaced in a big way. But I've been finding solace in alot of Stevie's work, though mostly I've been listening to her acoustic music (especially HAEWEFY) and that's been helping me at least maintain a certain level of sanity whilst locked into my own head. Given myself something other than my own bleak thoughts to think about. But somehow I don't think sitting in the park at 1am some nights listening to Stevie is that safe, even if mentally it's saving me at the time. Oh well.
I'm sorry to hear you are having a hard time. I can totally relate to the old habits and coping mechanisms, etc. Sometimes I feel like "When will I ever learn?". And it's true, Stevie gives us something to obsess about other than ourselves and our twisted thoughts!

[TerraRhiannon]

I've been going through a bleak time recently with my family for reasons I really don't want to talk about. It hurts too much to. .

Sorry to hear Bee!!

My family situation is very messed up right now too. I'll just say quickly I lost my sister. and my mom wants me gone after saying I could stay until I graduated college (which is only a year, really.) So that doesn't really make me feel very loved at all.

When something like this happens I lock myself in my room, put on Stevie's music and listen to some of my favorites like HAEWAFY, and Talk to Me is kind of inspiring too. I like to think she's talking to me when she says "You can talk to me, you can set your secrets free baby." and this inspires me to go out and confide in my best friend, Makala, because sometimes I forget she's always there for me when I get wrapped up in home life. I just go and tell her everything and then I feel better.

Stevie inspires me to go out and make something of myself and enjoy the little things such as music. Her music is my salvation. I'm so blessed to know the gift of her music. It's truly healing.

[daniellaaarisen]

I will explode into a chiffonhead obnoxious disaster if I post on this thread.

[Bella Figura]

I got into Stevie to get me through the years of teenage angst and typical srchetype dysfunctional family stuff...but what cemented me as a die hard ledgie is that Stevie's music got me through my many years of infertility issues...TISL was a blessing because it helped me finally accept that having children would never be in the cards for me. However I still can't listen to "Goodbye Baby" especially it's demo versions "The Tower" without bawling...

:) life is good now...and I enjoy the fact that Stevie's life is also good as well...she's a candlebright in the window.

[louielouie2000]

In college, my best friend was dealing with a broken engagement... it was a very tangled, sad, unfortunate set of occurrences. She couldn't get over her fiance who was in many ways her best friend, but they couldn't talk without things totally degrading. So I shared Storms with her, thinking it might provide some comfort and wisdom. And I think it truly did for her, she almost seemed to be shaken awake by it. Storms is a really intimate song for me that for whatever reason, I keep to myself (outside the online Mac community). It's just one of my little private refuges. I never want to share the song with someone else for fear they won't get it, and won't understand why it's so special to me. So me sharing the song was kinda a big deal.

Time goes on, and life takes my friend and I on diverging paths. It was so, so very hard on me. I mourned our friendship for years, and shed many tears. I couldn't understand it for the longest time. I mourned our friendship worse than any relationship I'd ever been in. Chrystal was like my friendship soulmate, and still think of her and our time together whenever I hear Storms. I can look back fondly on our time now, and perhaps I have the story told in Storms to thank. The song reminds you that looking into the past is ok, but it's best to leave closed books on the shelf. Good life lesson! :nod:

[tilthefirefades]

When I started to delve heavily into Fleetwood Mac about 4 years ago, I was very depressed. Mostly because my dad didn't care too much that "d*ck suckers" were calling the house looking for me all the time. I started to do many things around this time that I hadn't before, some I regret, others not. However, skipping unnecessary details, "Sara" always seemed to be the song I turned to for emotional comfort :)

On a more positive note, I tend to tie "Trouble in Shangri-La" to the best times of my life, before I knew about how guys suck and how great drugs are :laugh:

[mitzo]

It was Tusk - Beautiful Child and Sara that spoke to me in the last year of university and my first real love leaving town forever and whom I could not follow, who never knew how I felt. Weird agonizing unrequited unspoken life-changing love, all fragile and blown away so easily. Her sad songs of loss and goodbye through the years always take me there again. Even things like the Second Time and Touched By an Angel do it.

[Sahara]

I've been going through a bleak time recently with my family for reasons I really don't want to talk about. It hurts too much to. But the old habits, coping mechanisms if you will, of self harm and lack of self preservation have resurfaced in a big way. But I've been finding solace in alot of Stevie's work, though mostly I've been listening to her acoustic music (especially HAEWEFY) and that's been helping me at least maintain a certain level of sanity whilst locked into my own head. Given myself something other than my own bleak thoughts to think about. But somehow I don't think sitting in the park at 1am some nights listening to Stevie is that safe, even if mentally it's saving me at the time. Oh well.
Bee, I've dealt with self-harm as well and Stevie and Lindsey's music have been a great comfort to me in those moments -- not in the sense that their lyrics speak into my situation or anything like that, but more that they feel like old friends and are wonderful company to me when I want to escape.
Hang in there :xoxo:

[SapphireSister]

Bee, I've dealt with self-harm as well and Stevie and Lindsey's music have been a great comfort to me in those moments -- not in the sense that their lyrics speak into my situation or anything like that, but more that they feel like old friends and are wonderful company to me when I want to escape.
Hang in there :xoxo:
I'm sorry to hear this but glad you've found comfort in their music!

P.S. I seriously use The Ledge as an escape and it's worked wonders! Screw all those thousands of dollars I've wasted on therapy over the years lol.

[KarmaContestant]

I discovered that I was HIV+ right at the time Touched by An Angel was released. I got it from my boyfriend at the time, who was unaware of his own status... I remember getting in the car afterwards to go home and Edge of Seventeen was playing...boy did I ever hear the call of the nightbird. That was the moment I really understood what that song was about.

For a long time, I was very focused on death and the process of dying, and wasn't able or even willing to share the experience with anyone close to me. Who would be there? Who would know? Would anyone be around to bear witness to my last moments? Would anyone really care? All of my closest friends had moved far away and I felt very, very alone... I am a strong person, and I was unable express my own fears to anyone.

Those two songs, and the whole TISL album really helped get me through some hard times. Stevie was my best friend and confidant, and the only one I could sit and cry with.

[SapphireSister]

I discovered that I was HIV+ right at the time Touched by An Angel was released. I got it from my boyfriend at the time, who was unaware of his own status... I remember getting in the car afterwards to go home and Edge of Seventeen was playing...boy did I ever hear the call of the nightbird. That was the moment I really understood what that song was about.

For a long time, I was very focused on death and the process of dying, and wasn't able or even willing to share the experience with anyone close to me. Who would be there? Who would know? Would anyone be around to bear witness to my last moments? Would anyone really care? All of my closest friends had moved far away and I felt very, very alone... I am a strong person, and I was unable express my own fears to anyone.

Those two songs, and the whole TISL album really helped get me through some hard times. Stevie was my best friend and confidant, and the only one I could sit and cry with.

Thank you so much for having the courage to share this with us! You are my hero :xoxo:. I can't imagine how devastating that must have been for you but you are obviously a strong person like you said! I'm listening to Touched By An Angel right now in your honor. I, like you, can be very closed off emotionally and don't like feeling vulnerable but through Stevie's music I am able to access emotions I would have otherwise suppressed. That is how powerful our girl is and it's a beautiful thing!

[GODDESS6]

stevie's music has helped me thru alot~ the hardest was the loss of my father as a teen~ my father nurtured my love of stevie & fleetwood mac~ he really taught me about all music & how it can touch ones soul~

[SmileAtYou]

And it's true, Stevie gives us something to obsess about other than ourselves and our twisted thoughts!

That's a good way to put it. How beautiful that we can all relate to that feeling of Stevie being the light in the darkest places of your mind, where you most need someone to remind you
"Come in out of the darkness"

[LiquidDiamonds]

Time goes on, and life takes my friend and I on diverging paths. It was so, so very hard on me. I mourned our friendship for years, and shed many tears. I couldn't understand it for the longest time. I mourned our friendship worse than any relationship I'd ever been in. Chrystal was like my friendship soulmate, and still think of her and our time together whenever I hear Storms. I can look back fondly on our time now, and perhaps I have the story told in Storms to thank. The song reminds you that looking into the past is ok, but it's best to leave closed books on the shelf. Good life lesson! :nod:

Storms has always been a source of comfort for me. I tend to listen to Stevie's music during hard times these days. It has become my "comfort food". When things are going well in my life I usually don't listen to FM or Stevie a lot. I think I have burned myself out:nod:d. However, when life is rough these songs sound like the comforting voice of an old friend.

[APerfectLie]

Stevie has always been there for me, but two really bad times I remember are:

1. When I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. It was back in March 2003. I was almost comatose the day I went to the hospital, so I was kind of out of it, but Landslide was playing in the car on the way to the ER. At least I think it was playing. I don't know if it really was or if I dreamt it up in my head on the way there. Anyway, I spent the entire day kind of out of it, but the next day I was pretty coherent and I made my mom run home and get my portable CD player (remember those?!) and my The Dance CD and then I just laid there with Landslide on repeat for hours that first day of being a diabetic.

2. Back in May 2009, I was hospitalized for acute renal failure. It was completely scary because I went to the ER because I was nauseous and then they told me my kidneys were failing. I so wasn't prepared. Luckily I brought my iPod tho, and I spent five days in the hospital and I kept listening to "City of Hope" and "Mable Normand". In fact, I don't think I listened to any other songs the entire time.

[APerfectLie]

I will explode into a chiffonhead obnoxious disaster if I post on this thread.

It's okay, we'll help pick up the pieces!

That's a good way to put it. How beautiful that we can all relate to that feeling of Stevie being the light in the darkest places of your mind, where you most need someone to remind you
"Come in out of the darkness"

I love the way you put that!

[jellyman10]

I
I love the way you put that!

Seconded. :nod:

[SuperFleetwood]

sisters of the moon always helped me threw good and bad times!!

[SapphireSister]

sisters of the moon always helped me threw good and bad times!!
Sisters of the Moon has always make me wanna do drugs :laugh:.

[Meowi]

This thread makes you think how much of a beautiful writer Stevie is. She really does write a lot of her songs about things that have affected her - and yet we convert them merrily for our own needs.

[TerraRhiannon]

She really does write a lot of her songs about things that have affected her - and yet we convert them merrily for our own needs.

This is true, I can find something in her songs that I might be going through and say If she can get through it, so can I . It's empowering & healing at the same time. :thumbsup:

[starshine]

I"m sure theres many songs that I love of Stevies that have help me alot but the only 2/3 that come to mind and at a difficult time in my life are: Doing The Best That I Can.....Long Way To Go........Desert Angel. I used to play the cassette tapes....remember those (still have them too) anyway, I used to play a tape or various tapes in my car going to work or coming home.....Those songs really spoke to me....sometimes all I'd do is cry while listening to them going home......I tried to sing but nothing would come out only tears would fall. This was probably before I had all the demos /outtakes etc.....after '91 etc......I don't cry now but those songs will always have some meaning to me very deeply......:nod:

[Artemis]

Although I don't have any really personal or interesting stories to share, as I'm quite boring, Stevie's music goes with any of my moods.

There was a period over summer where I had this thing with this guy and it was getting messy, so I'd sit and listen to Beautiful Child (and Blondie's Shayla) and just cry for hours. Pathetic, but, it comforted me, in a way, as I was able to let all my feelings out.

When I'm down, I just need to stick on Rhiannon, Edge or Talk to Me and that cheers me up and I'll just dance and be the hyper prat I am. When I'm pissed, Nothing Ever Changes and Gold Dust Woman just resonate with me... etc.

I'm rambling now. :laugh:

[SapphireSister]

Right now I need to be listening to Smile at You. My walls are flaming! :mad:

[SuperFleetwood]

ohh lol!! :lol::eek::]:)

Sisters of the Moon has always make me wanna do drugs :laugh:.

[gypsy4life]

I have been thinking long and hard about how to reply to this thread. Stevie's music, for me, has been a staple of my life from birth. My parents were listening to The White Album and Rumours about the time I was born (1978). I don't remember not knowing who Stevie was. I have always loved her. I have known every lyric, and truly loved the music.

In fact, I can vividly remember being pretty young when Rooms On Fire came out, and I had to go to the dentist and get a tooth extracted. I was nervous, and little kid me, comforted myself in the dentist's chair by humming Rooms On Fire, as he pulled my tooth! Stevie was comforting to me way back then!

Much more recently, about the past year and a half. I literally depended on her music for everyday survival.

Without going into a lot of touchy details, I'll just say the past 15 months have been the worst of my life. I literally lost almost every friend, and several family members I had in ONE day.
The events leading up to that day were sort of a long time coming, but, I still remember the day in August of 2009, like it was yesterday. Due to circumstances WAY beyond my control, and my fierce belief in standing up for what is right, I was left virtually alone.

I had my parents, grandparents, and one cousin...that.was.it.

I drowned myself in Stevie and FM's music, nearly every minute of the day. Her lyrics reached the deepest parts of my heart when I needed them most. She seemingly wrote those words TO me.

If I loved Stevie Nicks before, I guess I unconditionally love her now. I feel as if the five members of the Rumours line up are my close friends. They have been with me through dark nights, and lonely days.

For these reasons, I will always be thankful to Stevie, and will love and support her in any way I ever could. Her music is poetry, her voice a comfort.

[studyinscarlet]

Crazy relationship. Being 'in love'. Outside The Rain for me. "No love's that hard to find, and I'm tired of... and I'm tired of trying..." That was the mantra that helped me realize we were doomed. It woke me up and made me think. That and Storms. 'Did I ever really get that much...?' The words just spoke to me. Then I got to cry to 'Love Is' and 'it wasn't that I didn't love you, I just couldn't make you see, that as hard as I tried to make it all better it was not better for me...'. Stevie therapy!