Gold Dust Woman

It's about groupie-type ladies. About women who stand around and give me and Christine dirty looks but as soon as a guy comes in the room are overcome with smiles. ~Stevie Nicks, Crawdaddy, November, 1976

[On the imagery of the dragon and the black widow] That just means anger. The black widow, the dragon thing. It's all about being scared and angry. ~Stevie Nicks, SPIN Magazine, October, 1997

Gold Dust Woman was a little bit about drugs ~ it was about you know keeping going. It was about cocaine. And, uh, you know after all these years ~ since I haven't done any cocaine since 1986 I can talk about it now you know. But it was ,ah, at that point ~ it was ~ I don't think I had ever been so tired in my whole life as I was when we were like - doing that. You know I think it was shocking me ~ the whole rock'n'roll life ~ was really heavy and it was so much work and it was so everyday intense you know. Being in Fleetwood Mac was like being in the army. It was like you have to be there. You have to be there and you have to be there as on time as you can be there. And even if there nothing you have to do, you have to be there. So Gold Dust Woman was really my kind of symbolic look at somebody going through a bad relationship, and doing alot of drugs, and trying to just make it ~ trying to live ~ you know trying to get through it to the next thing. ~Stevie Nicks, VH1 The Making of Rumours, 1997

[On what Gold Dust Woman is about] Well the gold dust refers to cocaine, but it's not completely about that, because there wasn't that much cocaine around then. Everybody was doing a little bit ~ you know, we never bought it or anything, it was just around ~ and I think I had a real serious flash of what this stuff could be, of what it could do to you. The whole thing about how we love the ritual of it, the little bottle, the diamond-studded spoons, the fabulous velvet bags. For me, it fit right into the candles and incense and all that stuff. And I really imagined that it could overtake everything, never thinking in a million years it would overtake me. I must have met a few people who I thought did too much coke, and I must have been impressed by that. Because I made it into a whole story. ~Stevie Nicks, SPIN Magazine, October, 1997

I was definitely swept away about how big Fleetwood Mac was and how famous I suddenly was. Me, who couldn't buy anything before, could go in any store and buy anything I wanted. And I wondered what that would do to me on down the line. I might be a ruler, but maybe I'd be lousy lover. ~Stevie Nicks, On the lyrics 'rulers make bad lovers', SPIN Magazine, October 1997

I thought it was great. It's a little raucous for me, but she's so very true to my song. ~Stevie Nicks, On what she thinks of Courtney Love's cover of Gold Dust Woman, Us Magazine January, 1998

I think overall this is about a woman with a strong, tough exterior (likely a rock star) who may be self-destructive and often feels lost. She has been hurt before, and perhaps feels lost. Also, she does not let on that she feels this way beneath all the the sex, drugs, and rock and roll. A break down of the lyrics:

Rock on gold dust woman Take your silver spoon Dig your grave

-"Gold dust woman" leads me to believe the obvious drug reference; about a woman who lives in the fast lane. "Dig your grave," meaning it can lead to a downward spiral and that she is going down that path.

Heartless challenge Pick your path and I'll pray

*A little ambiguous, but she must pick her path that she'll make choices moving forward that will not lead to death since her life is plagued with darkness where she is trying to mask this with drugs and sex to fill a void. Eventually, it catches up with you.

Wake up in the morning See your sunrise loves to go down Lousy lovers pick their prey But they never cry out loud Cry out

*This has something to do with waking up in the morning and facing the aftermath of the night before and how the cycle repeats itself (the sunrise loves to go down). The second part about lousy lovers: I think she is referring to how she has a lot of sex where there is nothing else to it- just sex. She wants more for herself, but she's broken. They don't cry at night, but she does.

Did she make you cry Make you break down Shatter your illusions of love And is it over now do you know how Pick up the pieces and go home.

-She's turning it around on the lovers, meaning she didn't make them cry or break down, but she has, and her view of love is shattered. When a night is over with one of her lovers, she often does not know how to pick up the pieces since she is unfulfilled. Maybe someone she was in love with hurt her in the past, and the meaningless sex is only a "quick fix." She is bitter, and does not know if she can trust again.

Rock on ancient queen Follow those who pale In your shadow

-Perhaps if she is a rock star, she is referring to her followers. Or if she is a groupie, she is looking up to other rock star women who have led this lifestyle who have been in her shoes.

Rulers make bad lovers You better put your kingdom up for sale Up for sale

-When she feels a lover is controlling her emotions, she knows they are no good for her. She knows she shouldn't be involved with certain people and they need to put their "kingdown up for sale" and move on.

Pale Shadow Of a woman Black widow Pale Shadow Of a dragon Dust woman

*I think the "shadow" reference paints a story about her past haunting to her. In fact, it is a very haunting, beautiful song. The shadow of a dragon reference may refer to drugs and the black widow may refer to herself...not necessarily a widow, but a scorned woman. This is just my two cents! Love this song.

I love the performance Stevie Nicks puts on during this song in concerts...the lyrics are very deep

Actually Stevie said in an interview in the 70's that this song was about female groupies. I don't remember the direct quote, but it was about the girls who would hang around for the guys in the band and give Stevie and Christine dirty loooks. I would have never thought of groupies until I read that quote.

~Rulers make bad lovers, You better put your kingdom up for sale~ whatever it is about that is a classic line!!!

Drugs .... ??????

this is most probably about a rich woman who has a silver spoon and digs her own grave...

she does not know how to love, .... or she forgot, she is 'dying' and so is digging her grave.

She has lovers who pick her as prey but they never stay ... she makes her lovers cry ... shatters their illusion of love ...

rock on ancient woman, stay with those who adore you and be your 'subjects', "rulers make bad lovers": she is the quintessential powerful woman, she needs to set aside her "kingdom" so she can gain her life back ....

To me, it has, and always will be about fleeing a destructive relationship with a partner who is power-hungry, a control freak ("Rulers make bad lovers").

When she says "you better put your kingdom up for sale", she's no longer giving her partner the illusion of control through a domineering, one-sided relationship. So his chasm of control, the relationship, where he gets his kicks, is basically void now that she's gone, and he has to put it up for sale, i.e. advertise his love again, so he can oppress, and rule over somebody new.

This is a very dark, but incredible song sung by Stevie Nicks! This is one of my all time favorite Fleetwood Mac songs! It only gets better with age!

Word to that. My dad introduced me to this song. Cute, isn't it?

I love this song! Stevie Nicks definitely had the best voice out of the members of Fleetwood Mac.