Rhiannon (song)
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| "Rhiannon" | ||||
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| Single by Fleetwood Mac | ||||
| from the album Fleetwood Mac | ||||
| B-side | "Sugar Daddy" | |||
| Released | February 4, 1976 | |||
| Format | 7" 45 RPM | |||
| Recorded | February, 1975 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 4:12 (album version)
3:46 (single version) 7:48 (1980 Live album version) |
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| Label | Reprise | |||
| Writer(s) | Stevie Nicks | |||
| Producer | Fleetwood Mac and Keith Olsen | |||
| Fleetwood Mac singles chronology | ||||
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"Rhiannon" is a single released by Fleetwood Mac in 1976. The song was written by Stevie Nicks for the band.
"Rhiannon" was voted #488 in The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine. Its U.S. chart peak was in June 1976, when it hit #11.[1] It reached #46 in the UK singles chart after re-release in 1976.
The song is always referred to as simply "Rhiannon" on Fleetwood Mac albums. The suffixed title "Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)" was only used on singles in certain territories.
Live performances of the song were sometimes prefaced with Nicks saying, "This is a song about an old Welsh witch."[2]
Contents |
[edit] Background
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This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this section if you can. (June 2008) |
Nicks discovered Rhiannon through a novel called Triad, by Mary Leader. The novel is about a woman named Branwen, who is possessed by another woman named Rhiannon. There is mention of the Welsh legend of Rhiannon in the novel, but the characters in the novel bear little resemblance to their original Welsh namesakes (both Rhiannon and Branwen are major female characters in the medieval Welsh prose tales of the Mabinogi).
Nicks bought the novel in an airport just before a long flight and thought the name was so pretty that she wanted to write something about a girl named Rhiannon. She wrote "Rhiannon" in 1974, three months before joining Fleetwood Mac, and has claimed it took 10 minutes to write.
After writing the song, Nicks learned that Rhiannon was a euhemerised Welsh goddess, and was amazed that the haunting song lyrics applied to the Welsh Rhiannon as well. Nicks researched the Mabinogion story and began work on a Rhiannon project, unsure of whether it would become a movie, a musical, a cartoon, or a ballet. There are several "Rhiannon Songs" from this unfinished project including "Stay Away" and "Maker of Birds". Nicks wrote the Fleetwood Mac song "Angel" based on the Rhiannon story.
Nicks avoided wearing black clothing for "about two years" in an effort to distance herself from the witchcraft and dark arts associations surrounding her as a result of the lyrics to "Rhiannon" giving fans the wrong impression. (2 minutes into this interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIlfT-aDTko)
[edit] Live version lyrics
The song evolved in live versions and additional lyrics were added, and some changed at times. There is an additional refrain, which appears twice:
- "Once in a million years,
- a lady like her rises.
- 'Rhiannon' you cry but she's gone,
- and your life knows no answer,
- and your life knows no answer."[3]
[edit] Personnel
- Stevie Nicks – Vocals
- Lindsey Buckingham – Guitar, Background Vocals
- Christine McVie – Keyboards, Background Vocals
- John McVie – Bass
- Mick Fleetwood – Drums
[edit] Covers
Waylon Jennings covered the song in his 1985 album, Turn the Page.
Hardcore Punk band Zeke also covered the song in their 2000 Dirty Sanchez album.
Hole also sampled "Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)" on the song "Starbelly".
Japanese artist Superfly covered the song as a B-side of the single "Ai wo Komete Hanataba wo", released on February 28, 2008.
American Idol finalist Brooke White covered the song on her 2009 iTunes Live Sessions album.
[edit] References
- ^ Rock Movers & Shakers by Dafydd Rees & Luke Crampton, 1991 Billboard Books.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR_i0sKWKEA
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR_i0sKWKEA
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