Fleetwood Mac – Landslide

"Landslide" as written by and Stevie Nicks....
I took my love, and I took it down
I climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills
'Til the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life
Mm mm I don't know

Well, I've been afraid of changin'
'Cause I built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I'm getting older, too

Well, I've been afraid of changin'
'Cause I built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I'm getting older, too
Oh, I'm getting older, too

So, take this love, take it down
Oh, if you climb a mountain and you turn around
If you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills
Well, the landslide will bring it down, down
And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills
Well, maybe the landslide will bring it down
Well, well, the landslide will bring it down


Lyrics submitted by oofus, edited by WheelsUp, bruceswonger, zahuntah

Landslide song meanings
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  • +27
    General CommentI think this song is beautiful because it can be interpreted in so many ways...part of the genius behind it. What it means to me, I'm sure, Nicks did not intend, because when she wrote it, she was nowhere near where I am at this point of my life. But this song never hit me before like it does now. I've always liked it...first heard it when I was in my teens. But now, it resonates to my core. A couple of you have shared similar insights that I have on what "Landslide" means ... but not fully. I am a mom in my mid 40s. My children are in high school ... but the years are slipping by quickly. While I have not been a "stay at home mommy," since my kids were born, I've only accepted employment that allows me to be available to them whenever they need me. So, I have built my life around them-forgoing more lucrative opportunities that would have imposed distance and hours that would not allow me to be available.

    To me, The Landslide is time. Time moving very fast; making many changes in its wake. Can I handle those changes...the new seasons of my life that will come after they move on with their lives...I don't know. I am going to miss them so much when that happens... I really don't know if I can handle that.

    "I climbed a mountain and I turned around." When I took my life journey, any time I spent reflecting on my past...I saw my mother... her reflection in the snow covered hills. (BTW I think it's ridiculous to assume the snow covered hills has anything to do with cocaine -- there are way too many beautiful literal and metaphorical interpretations that can be made. That is just too base.) I think the snow covered hills refers to the graying of the previous generations. I see my mother when I reflect on the snow covered hills in my journey. Even though she says "my reflection," for me, and I'm sure for many, it looks like "my reflection" but it's really my mother because we look alike. When my children climb the mountain and turn around, I can only assume they will see me and my snow covered hill.

    And the last part for me means that I'm telling my children to take my love with them on their journey to the future, and if they see my reflection in the snow covered hills when they turn around and reflect on their past...they don't need to let anything I've done that could slow them down or cause them to doubt themselves to get in the way because in time...The Landslide (time) will make all those mistakes irrelevant. The Landslide of time takes care of all those issues. In time, they will be their own persons no matter what I've done, good bad or otherwise. But the love remains. They've taken that with them.

    And OF COURSE "mirror in the sky" is God, or whatever higher power you believe in. (Again..nothing to do with drugs.) She refers to it as a "mirror" because it is during/through prayer/introspection/meditation that we often take the time to look at ourselves and evaluate who we are and where we're going. For me, "Oh mirror in the sky...what is love?" means do we demonstrate love more by holding on tight to those we love or by letting go...letting them take their own journeys and sending our love with them? How do we best demonstrate our love? I think the song answers that question.
    deegee87on February 27, 2012   Link
    • 8 Replies
  • +13
    General Commentstevie said that this was written in aspen, colorado when she went with just her goya guitar. she said she was contemplating whether or not to continue with lindsey buckingham in their group, buckingham knicks or go back to school in california. she was sitting in a friends living room just contemplating her life. knicks has previously said she "sat looking out at the rocky mountains pondering the avalanche of everything that had come crashing down on us...at that moment, my life truly felt like a landslide in many ways."
    jwheelockon July 21, 2009   Link
  • +10
    My InterpretationI think it;s about change. Whether realising you're a coke addict, breaking up with your partner, being worried about your dad going into surgery (which Stevie Nicks was when she wrote it), or realising your children are grown and don't need looking after anymore, when you realise the life you knew is over, the sweeping changes are devastating. Your old life is destroyed in the landslide of the new life. Will you survive and become a new you? I don't know.
    Ismelstaron February 17, 2013   Link
  • +9
    General CommentWell, no one seems to think of it in the terms I do. Everyone talks about a child's point of view with the song. Imagine for a minute, listening to it from an aging parent's perspective. One whose children were their world, totally doted upon and beautiful images of the parents themselves. But with years, the children distant themselves and don't understand the parent (understand where they're coming from). Perhaps even disagree with the entire way the parent views the world and acts, according to how they lived their lives, according to their fate. TO me it means all this and the ends means, simply that, in the end the same fate very possibly awaits the younger adult child with age, and when it happens to them, these things/changes their parent has endured, they will finally understand who their parent is/was, in a way they never had. It will hit them emotionally hard, like a landslide, and they will come back "down to earth" with changed attitudes, the parent hopes it brings them to this realization without destroying them. Of course I see this in the song as it relates to my own life, and all my close friends know, this is the song to be played for my children, when I die.
    thebalancedramon March 12, 2012   Link
    • 2 Replies
  • +8
    General CommentThis is such a beautiful song. It's about someone who causes her pain but she built her life and her world around him. Now, she must let him go and support herself, because of how much he hurts her. She is a child, but she is learning to grow and take her life into her own hands. She is scared of being dragged down by him, so she must leave him.
    monkeylyricson March 10, 2012   Link
  • +7
    General CommentTo me the song is about growing up and letting go of safe familiar things. You are unsure if you can make it and you are leaving someone behind in a way. Your telling them if they remember any of the bad times involving them that sooner or later that thought will pass.
    Then again it could just be playing with words that fit together and may mean something different to different people.
    mirkinon June 29, 2002   Link
  • +6
    General Comment. basically, it talks about taking a chance and just going for something. the singer always saw her self above love, but now she is falling into it and feels like she is losing control. so she is saying she has only some control and the rest is just trust in this person...shes built her life around. so she is just going to let that "landslide" bring her down and trust that person to give her the same
    ranger91on February 06, 2002   Link
    • 3 Replies
  • +4
    General CommentI was looking for a song to danc to with my son at his wedding and I found this one. He has been my life and I am getting older , so is he . Time to let go and let all things fall into place like a landslide. It makes me cry . Hope I can make it through the wedding.
    Janet
    janet10208on February 27, 2016   Link
  • +3
    My InterpretationThis song is about a person making a change when she realizes that she has been betrayed by someone/group of people to whom she has given everything.

    Landslide refers to the collapse of the relationship when she withdraws her love after a person/group betrays her.

    She had dedicated her whole life to building this relationship (climbed a mountain), but the betrayal has caused her to stop (turn around) and take a hard look at how she sees herself and how others see her (her reflection).

    This betrayal causes her to see herself as alone, unloved, and unappreciated--"in the snow-covered mountains," so she decides to withdraw her love (I take my love, and I take it down), which brings a sudden, massive end/landslide to the relationship.

    She wonders what love is, if she can rise above this betrayal (Can the child within my heart rise above?), and if she can make this change and still continue in a positive way with her life (Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides? Can I handle the seasons of my life?).

    She says that she has built her entire life around this person/group (I built my life around you), so taking down her love from this person/group does not come easy, but now she is older and has grown, so can make the change because she will no longer give to this person/group after he/they have abandoned her alone "in the snow-covered mountains."

    She tells this person/group to walk away from this relationship (So take your love, take it down) because if he/they stop and reflect on the relationship and how the betrayal has left her abandoned, they will understand this landslide--why she has withdrawn her love and why the relationship has ended.
    WheelsUpon November 12, 2013   Link
  • +2
    General Commentjust an absolutely beautiful song, i heard the new dixie chicks version before i heard the original, and the chicks don't even come close to doing it justice, stevie nicks is amazing
    _kurtcobainismygod_on October 13, 2002   Link

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