Fleetwood Mac: Landslide Meaning
Song Released: 1975
Covered By: Glee Cast (2011), Chicks, The (2002), Stevie Nicks (2007), Chloe Kohanski (2017), Smashing Pumpkins (1994), Bush (2011)
Landslide Lyrics
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
’till the landslide brought me down
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I...
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My Interpretation:
I took my love and I took it down
I climbed as mountain and I turned around.
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hill
'Til the landslide brought me down
meaning:
She and her lover were building a life together, but then there came a point when she had to take a look at herself and at her life... She became aware that she needed to move in a different direction, one without her lover. This new awareness came crashing down on her... the "landslide".
Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changin' ocean tide?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?
I don't know.
Meaning:
When she was at that point in her life of self reflection and awareness, she had to take a deep look at herself and ask herself "what is love". Can the innocence with in her heart become strong enough to handle the changes she needs to make?
I've been afraid of changin'
'cause I built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older
And I'm getting older too
And I'm getting older too
Meaning:
She has been afraid of change because she built her life around her lover. She is noticing her inner strength and need for change. She is growing up and maturing.
Oh take my love, take or down.
Climb a mountain and turn around
And of you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring it down
Meaning:
She is telling her lover to move on, she has moved on. -
This song was written by Stevie Nicks, not the Dixie Chicks, which might change the interpretion by some. I think this is a very baby boomer song about the changes and losses during our lifetimes.
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Guess I have it all wrong but when I hear this I think it's from a parent to a child. Aging parent, child getting older, life keeps changing,the landslide is maybe the end of life.
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It was sung at our leavers liturgy. It was the last time we would be together as a year and this song summed up how we all felt. I don't really know why.
We had just spent five years with each other and the lines "I'm getting older too." Just seam to fit in. This song just gives the sense of moving on for each of us but knowing that what happened in those five years will define us forever. -
Stevie Nicks In Her Own Words
http://www.inherownwords.com/
Stevie NIcks tells what this song is about on this site. -
To me, this song is about growing up and figuring out what love really is. You're a changing person, but afraid of who you're becoming because of the person you've built your life around. But because you want your own life and dreams, you have to leave that person.
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To me, this song is about change in one's life. The transition from being a young girl into becoming a woman and a few responsibilities that go along with that.
I believe she was about 27 when she wrote the song. When I reached my early 20's is when this song took on more meaning every time I heard it...and I heard it a lot!
Again, I've know this song since my early teens and the melody always manages to draw smiles and tears from me.
I've seen Fleetwood Mac in concert once, Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia in 2004. I love how she dedicated the song to Lindsey and he smiled at her. No matter how bad things had been between them, they could/can still appreciate each other for who they were/are.
I've since seen Stevie Nicks in concert, solo. Again in Melbourne, Australia. This time at the beautiful Sidney Myer Music Bowl on November 19 (a 12th wedding anniversary present from hubby to me and vice versa) In my humble opinion, this is the ONLY venue in which to see her perform, solo. She told the very sweet story of how her dad thought and believed that she had written the song about him and she didn't have the heart to set him straight (soooo cute!) I thought it was a shame that she didn't mention Lindsey (I thought she must, yet again, not be on speaking terms with him and this saddened me a bit) but I was glad when she mentioned him in relation to 'Soldiers Angel' (her song off 'In Your Dreams') Check out the You Tube clip of Stevie and Lindsey singing 'Soldiers Angel' together. It is quite moving. xx :) -
"i saw my reflection in the snow covered hills, and the landslide brought me down." she sees her reflection in the pocket mirror with which she will snort cocaine off of. "mirror in the sky" she is holding the mirror in the air up to her nose. I FUCKING WIN
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This song is rich with images and universal sentiments that speak deeply to so many of us on a soul level. This song meets us where we are, grows with us, inspires, soothes, resonates. It's like a faithful old friend.
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The true beauty of the lyrics is that it can fit multiple situations. Although, the lyrics have a special meaning to me, this interpretation is focused on the life of the songwriter, Stevie Nicks. Despite Stevie’s reference to her father in at least one performance of this song, I think another application of this song to Stevie's life could also be the following explanation to Lindsey as to why she said what she said to him during their big fight in Aspen after he returned from the tour:
After Stevie's father suggested that she give up her music career if it didn't bear fruit soon, she went on a soul-searching journey about her "love", a music career with Lindsey. She thought maybe it would be just a dream that would never come true. She was devastated by this thought, thus the landslide that brought her down. She asked God the "mirror in the sky" (according to the bible we are made in God's image) for guidance. Could she handle what giving up on her dream would mean? She didn't want to quit music because she loved working on it with Lindsey; but at some point dreams have to take a backseat to reality. She tells Lindsey that if he would "take this love", their music career, and try to think about the situation from her perspective maybe he will understand the devastation, the landslide, that caused her to say what she said to him. -
The song is about cocaine and her experience letting it go.
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I've read the same thing from countless sources that it is about Stevie contemplating whether to continue struggling in the music industry or to go back to school and secure a stable job. At the same time her relationship with Lindsey is deteriorating. And as she looks out from where she sits to the "snow covered hills" , it resembles her life, which are becoming a "landslide"
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Cocaine addiction.
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"I took my love, I took it down
Climbed a mountain and I turned around
I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
’till the landslide brought me down"
The mountain represents life's journey. The implied peak represents when one is at the top of their health/life/success. Once she starts discovering who she is (her "reflection in the snow covered hills"), the "landslide" starts bringing her down (old age/time getting to her).
"Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life"
The "mirror in the sky" represents God, as God is considered to make us in his image. She's begging to see if she'll be gone forever, or if her inner child will live on for eternity.
"Well, I’ve been afraid of changing
’Cause I’ve built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I’m getting older too"
She's afraid of growing old and dying. She implies that the "avalanche" strengthens you when she says that "time makes you bolder".
"So, take this love, take it down
Climb a mountain and turn around
If you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well the landslide will bring it down"
The reflection represents what she'd leave behind after she'd die (what impact she would have on things), but seems to suggest that the "landslide" (time) would bring it all down. When saying "climb a mountain and turn around" she probably means to live a life and die gracefully. -
I'll try to explain this in my personal experiences. Taking love and taking it down is being in love and not being with that love. Climbing the mountain is living a life you wanted to have, but coming back down on it is relizing that you cannot have the life you want without your love. Going on a hill is the life you live now(hill
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