Thursday, June 28, 2018

"Rhiannon" by Fleetwood Mac

"Rhiannon" is my absolute most favorite song in the world. That will never change - there's a reason I included it on my death vinyl. I like to pretend it was written about me. I mean, I wish a lot of great songs were written about me but if I had to choose one, this would be it. I'm not sure why I haven't used it as the Song du Jour yet, but I woke up with it stuck in my head and thought, "It is time."

My dad told me he snuck into the Fleetwood Mac concert at the NMSU Pan Am Center when they came to New Mexico when he was in college (late 70s/early 80s). When Stevie introduced this song, she told the audience Rhiannon's story. She was a Welsh witch (my dad described her as having dark hair and eyes, but I think he was embellishing) who was in love with a man but, for whatever reason, he couldn't or wouldn't be with her. Heartbroken, she ran off to the moors and exploded into a murder of crows. Which is awesome! Kind of reminds me of that one weird vigor in "Bioshock Infinite." You know the one....anyway, there's a vivid story behind "Rhiannon" that always gets my imagination going. When she was writing the song, Stevie used bibliomancy, a type of divination where you open a book to a random page, put your finger down, and whatever it lands on says something about your future or situation. The book she used was some random book that was written in the 70s, "Triad" by Mary Leader, which is now on my "To Read" list....the ever-growing list that I will never complete in my lifetime, unless I become an Immortal (I still haven't given up hope yet).

After she opened with the story, the music started and Stevie would start twirling, with her flowing skirts and shawls. Misty Day (who is still dissecting frogs in Hell, by the way....not that you care) described Stevie as the first witch she ever knew. She tells Zoe that "Rhiannon" was Stevie's anthem...."can't you hear it." I think I knew that, too, to be honest. I'm pretty sure Stevie was the first witch I ever knew of. I'll be devastated when she dies because of it. There are some things - no, some people - that are so much a part of you, that if they were gone, you'd never be whole again. I think that's the whole point of the song. "Once in a million years a lady like her rises/Oh no, Rhiannon! you cry/But then she's gone/And your life knows no answer/Your life knows no answer." A million years? Humans haven't even existed for a million years and they probably won't at this rate, which means there has never been a woman like Rhiannon ever and there never will be again. She must be pretty fucking special.

Lily Rabe (as Misty Day in "AHS: Coven") and Stevie Nicks
Stevie and Mary Leader got the lore a bit wrong, though. Rhiannon actually is a Welsh goddess. She has three familiars - mystical birds, usually depicted as ravens - that signal her arrival. She is often imagined as riding on a pale horse wearing a gold dress, and is traditionally a goddess of fertility, rebirth, and transformation. There's something in that, if I woke up with this song stuck in my head. That some sort of apotheosis is on my horizon. According to some internet page I found (with all the Welsh mythology), "the story of Rhiannon teaches us that - with truth, patience, and love - we can create change no matter how bleak life seems at the moment." Woah, man. That's deep.

As I've said before, I prefer the live version of the song from "The Dance" live album. Stevie riffs the opening lyrics and works herself into a frenzy by the end. It really is magic. Not that the studio version isn't good - it is - I just prefer the live one, because that's what I remember from long car trips with my dad.

"Rhiannon" Live Performance

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