Interesting Theory about Sara

[JesusRumours]

I found this article, it's about 6 famous songs that don't mean what you think, number 2 is Sara.

http://www.cracked.com/article_16442_6-famous-songs-that-dont-mean-what-you-think_p3.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=new+article&wa_ibsrc=fanpage

But I think is not true, I've never heard anything like that about that song, what do you think?

[WildHearted]

I've heard that a lot, actually.

But I believe Stevie when she says it's about anyone and everyone in her life at the time - the meandering lyrics seem to support that, as well. And then there's those, oh, dozen or so verses we've never heard.

[mikephxaz]

yes sir...that story has been around for YEARS

[michelej1]

So, So Gay magazine, UK
http://sosogay.org/2011/you-should-know-about-sara-by-fleetwood-mac/

You Should Know About . . . Sara, by Fleetwood Mac

Sara, one of Fleetwood Mac’s most enduring songs, and one of the most philosophized about: who exactly is the Sara that Stevie Nicks immortalized in pen and song?

Essentially, it is a song, lasting only for a few minutes, drastically cut down from the 16 minute epic that Nicks originally penned. So how is it that a song can capture the thoughts and hearts of so many while actually giving so little away? A friend of mine bemoans my almost abusive levels of Fleetwood Mac listening, but even he will concede ‘You can play Sara again’. Comprising of a relatively simple song structure, written largely in F-major, nothing about the song stands out as extraordinary on paper, until you hear it.

For purposes of understanding, please, take a moment and listen to the song.

Haunting isn’t it? Captivating isn’t it? Almost as if someone’s listened to inner thoughts you’ve whispered to yourself and captured them in song. How is it that such a deeply personal song, can be so deeply personal for so many?

Personal for Stevie Nicks it certainly is, with her quoting it as too painful to ever sing live again, and refusing to ever even publish the lyrics to the whispered about ‘true version’.

The referenced ‘sea of love’, in which we find ourselves drowning at the beginning of the song, is identified by many: that overwhelming emotion that is both beautiful and all encompassing at the start of a relationship where we fall in love, but that we know could take everything from us as we get dragged to the depths. It’s these beautiful comparisons, heartfelt and abstract yet meaningful enough to not be carried away with pretence, that are a signature of Nicks’ song writing style.

But it’s the ‘call me home’ that speaks to all of us about our craving for a sense of belonging, a home we are welcomed to that is a safe place from the storm outside. Here, Nicks is writing about her then partner, Don Henley, who was building a house when she wrote the song. He claims the song is an elegy to their unborn, aborted child; but again it speaks to the universal need to find the place where we belong and our search for a place of warmth to shelter.

Other literal meanings behind not-so-seemingly-literal lyrics can be found: the ‘great dark wing’ was Mick Fleetwood’s loud red Ferrari, and at the time of writing Nicks was also secretly dating the drummer and namesake of the band. And the whispered, hushed thoughtful sighs and cries of the backing vocals lend an ethereal and dream-like quality as Nicks’ voice echoes back from the depths of the song, kept together tidily by a drum-brush back beat.

But who is Sara? It is believed to be numerous people: possibly her unborn child, her friend Sara Recor, a model and singer who later married Mick Fleetwood causing Nicks more pain. When Nicks famously checked into the Betty Ford Clinic for cocaine addiction, she signed herself in only as ‘Sara’. It is this Sara that the later song ‘Welcome To The Room, Sara’, a track on their 1987 album Tango In The Night, is written about. A document of Stevie’s experience in rehab and coming clean. It is this aspect of Sara, the ‘poet in her heart’ that Nicks sings of loving and being desperate not to lose, scared she might lose her inspiration and musical gift but fearful of the price it may cost her.

For me, I have my own Sara’s: a lost loved one, close friends who have kept me together over the years, and of course, aspects of myself and my ex’s and past romances.

As beautiful and carefully layered as the song is, it’s the last, hushed cry of ’All I ever wanted…’ cut off by the end of the track that really gives me goosebumps. What was it that Nicks was about to sing? Was she even about to sing anything, or was it too personal to share? Perhaps, like many of us, she was never completely sure of what it was she wanted.

[markolas]

Yes, apparently Henley blabbed about it to Vanity Fair years ago. Stevie was none too pleased at the time, but she's evidently forgiven him.

[tabruns]

I guess the writer didn't have a decent enough stereo when she listened to the song, because you CAN hear what follows after "All I ever wanted...."

"All I ever wanted was to know that you were dreaming...."

The writer is correct though that its an ethereal haunting song and lots of people love it.

[UndoingTheLaces]

I couldn't resist. I added a rather lengthy comment to Alexis' article. Sara is one of my favorite songs and I can't help myself mentioning other versions of it with another fan.

[David]

Comprising a relatively simple song structure, written largely in F-major, nothing about the song stands out as extraordinary on paper, until you hear it.All the band's pop songs are simple in structure. They never stand out as extraordinary on paper. It's only what you hear in the track that's special. Saying that "Sara," on paper, goes back & forth between a major scale & a church scale (Lydian) means nothing because it wasn't intentional or even recognized, & it has no bearing on what makes "Sara" so cool (which is the singing, the orchestral color, the lyrics, even the canyon-like echo of the reverb added at the mix board).

[bombaysaffires]

Yes, apparently Henley blabbed about it to Vanity Fair years ago. Stevie was none too pleased at the time, but she's evidently forgiven him.

actually it was GQ in an interview with Chris Connelly. I used to have it in my pile-o-stuff somewhere but who knows anymore.

Loved this line:

"Well, one ungodly depressing theory suggests the song is about Don Henley. And if the image of a naked Don Henley flopping his manhood around with Stevie Nicks isn't enough, it gets worse."

[UndoingTheLaces]

All the band's pop songs are simple in structure. They never stand out as extraordinary on paper. It's only what you hear in the track that's special. Saying that "Sara," on paper, goes back & forth between a major scale & a church scale (Lydian) means nothing because it wasn't intentional or even recognized, & it has no bearing on what makes "Sara" so cool (which is the singing, the orchestral color, the lyrics, even the canyon-like echo of the reverb added at the mix board).

When I was in college I got a Best of Fleetwood Mac songbook and tried to learn to play some of their songs on piano. I was really shocked to see how incredibly simple Gypsy was, in terms of chord structure. It really goes something like A-B-A-B-A-B-A-B-C (bridge)-A-B-A-B-A-B-A-B-A-B- etc etc. (the letters being the parts, not the keys).

Okay, that just totally reminded me of that rehearsal clip of Christine singing Rhiannon where at the end she goes "dreams unwind... etcetera etcetera ). That always makes me giggle.