Behind the Meaning of Stevie Nicks’ “Stand Back”

Stevie Nicks’ “Stand Back” is a song she once called “her most important.” The dance-y track is among her most anthemic, but the lyrics are as emotive as any other Nicks song. Uncover the meaning behind this track, below.

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Behind the Meaning of Stevie Nicks’ “Stand Back”

No one looked as I walked by
Just an invitation would have been just fine
Said no to him again and again
First, he took my heart, then he ran
No one knows how I feel
What I say, unless you read between my lines
One man walked away from me
First he took my hand
Take me home

Despite Nicks experiencing domestic bliss while writing this track, she opted to take it in a direction that she knows well. The lyrics see the Fleetwood Mac singer mull over a fight–or in this case a faux fight. Nicks imagined what that strife might feel like and let it guide her pen on this song.

“I got married the day I wrote this song,” Nicks once said of this track. “We were driving to Santa Barbara and a new song by Prince came on, so we pulled over somewhere and got the tape. It just gave me an incredible idea, so I spent many hours that night writing a song about some kind of crazy argument, and it was to become one of the most important of my songs.”

Stand back, stand back
In the middle of my room, I did not hear from you
It’s alright, it’s alright
To be standing in a line (Standing in a line)
To be standing in a line
I would cry

For the working melody of “Stand Back,” Nicks borrowed elements from Prince’s “Little Red Corvette.” For the final product, she asked the man himself to create a custom backing track for her.

“I phoned Prince out of the blue, hummed a melody, and he listened,” Nicks once said. “I hung up, and he came over within the hour. He listened again, and I said, ‘Do you hate it?’ He said, ‘No.’”

“[Prince] walked over to the synthesizers that were set up, was absolutely brilliant for about twenty five minutes, and then left,” he continued. “He was so uncanny, so wild, he spoiled me for every band I’ve ever had because nobody can exactly re-create—not even with two piano players—what Prince did all by his little self.”

Revisit this track, below.

Do not turn away my friend
Like a willow, I can bend
No man calls my name
No man came
So, I walked on down, away from you
Maybe your attention was more than you could do
One man did not call
He asked me for my love, and that was all

(Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)