Stevie Nicks Releases Powerful New Song “Show Them the Way”
Classic rock fans rejoice! Two time Rock n Roll Hall of Fame inductee Stevie Nicks has released a new song with powerful lyrics that are very fitting of this time. “Show Them the Way” can be heard on several music streaming platforms. It is the first Nicks solo song since her 2014 LP release “24 Karat Gold”.
Two versions of the track have been released, one featuring Nick’s voice and a piano. The song has a sparse, jazz like feel with a talk-sing style that erratically plays against the chords. It very clearly showcases lyrics that talk about a dream Nicks had where she was playing a benefit in the Hamptons for the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Kennedys. She asks the leaders for guidance for the future.
At the end of the song, Nicks meets a shadow that represents her mother who worked at a prisoner war base outside of Phoenix. The figure tells her, “Don’t forget what we are fighting for”. These are words that Nicks’ mother repeated to her throughout her life and they are also repeated throughout the song.
Other lyrics are as follows:
Someone said, ‘Sing us a song, there’s a piano
And handed me a drink
The room was full of hope
A song would set them free”
For the second version of the song, Nicks is accompanied by a full band including Dave Grohl on drums and Dave Stewart on guitar. The song is upbeat and has an adult contemporary vibe. Both tracks were produced by Greg Kurstin.
In an interview Nicks gave to Rolling Stone, she revealed that she wrote the song in 2008 when she was in St. Charles, Ill editing a concert film. While there, she watched several historical documentaries about the political figures in the song. These films gave her inspiration.
“I watched it all,” Nicks explained. “Then, what happened was, one night I went to bed and I had this dream. I dream a lot, but I almost never remember the dreams. I’ll wake up and I’ll go, ‘I remember a train with some people smiling and waving at me that went by really fast,’ and that’s it. This dream was so really real that there was a little bit of me, for a minute, when I sat up was like, ‘Did that just really happen?’ So I wrote it down just in prose. I didn’t write it down in a seven verse poem. I wrote down what had happened.”
According to Nicks, she was considering putting “Show Them the Way” on her 2011 album, “In Your Dreams”, but she decided it didn’t go with the other songs on the album. She put it out now because she feels like it’s a good time to have it out in the world. “I think the world is calling for it right now,” the singer explains.
In other Nicks news, a 24 Karat Gold concert film will screen at select cinemas and drive-ins for two nights only later this month. Be sure to check out the film and the song to keep up with all things Stevie.
