Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks has dropped her first solo single in four years and right-wing trolls cannot cope with the pro-choice anthem.
The 76-year-old singer released The Lighthouse earlier this week as her first solo single since she dropped the political tune Show Them The Way in 2020, dedicating the lyric video to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Now she has returned with another punchy song in the lead-up to the US election in November – this time hitting on women’s rights, and more specifically, the increasing restrictions around abortions in the States.
The topic is more heated than ever as women’s rights campaigners continue to fight back after Roe v Wade – protecting abortion rights – was overturned in 2022. Stevie’s song has been two years in the making.
‘I wrote this song a few months after Roe v. Wade was overturned. It seemed like overnight, people were saying “what can we, as a collective force, do about this…” For me, it was to write a song,’ the singer and longtime political activist shared on Instagram.
She continued: ‘It took a while because I was on the road. Then early one morning I was watching the news on TV and a certain newscaster said something that felt like she was talking to me~ explaining what the loss of Roe v. Wade would come to mean.
‘I wrote the song the next morning and recorded it that night.
‘I have often said to myself, “This may be the most important thing I ever do. To stand up for the women of the United States and their daughters and granddaughters ~ and the men that love them”.’
The song does not beat around the bush, featuring powerful lyrics including: ‘Your life’s forever changed / And all the right you had yesterday / Are taken away / And now you’re afraid / You should be afraid / Should be afraid.’
Meanwhile, as the title would suggest, the music video is set in and around a lighthouse on a stormy night, interspersed with images of pro-choice protestors.
The blatant social commentary has led to right-wing trolls flooding the acclaimed musician’s comments with their anger.
‘I’m so crushed. Why do all the millionaire celebs have to do this? Completely out of touch. Goodbye lifelong muse,’ @tangerinedream888 complained on Instagram.
‘Why the hell are these liberals so obsessed with “Abortion”?’ @soldbyamelia said.
‘Sad to see this political bs from Stevie!’ @thejessronaldbinge shared.
And @boymon1003 lamented it was ‘so disappointing to see her do this!’
But where there was backlash, there was also an immense amount of love as her fans praised her for the ‘magnificent’ song.
‘Mother, we’ve been waiting for what feels like forever and you did NOT disappoint,’ @sonneiverbena commented.
‘Oh my this needs playing everywhere around the globe, it’s powerful meaning is a true masterpiece that speaks for all the women who aren’t being heard, who are refused their own mental & physical human rights,’ @carolinesw22 shared.
‘The queen has spoken… Women’s rights are violated all over the world, thank you so much for screaming out loud about it, we all need the anthem,’ @wiktoriachlodnika stated.
‘This has empowered me to the core! I hope all women out there listens to this and listen to the message she’s trying to tell.
‘This song is not a celebration of abortions and those of you that think this are the problem! This is about our rights! It’s about women’s rights!’ @tmarshall4 said against the haters.
And @grievousdrawss echoed: ‘Do none of y’all realise stevie has always been an outspoken feminist? Or were you purposefully blind until now?’
This is far from the first time Stevie has used her platform to amplify socio-political discussions – and made her perspective on the matter clear.
In fact, speaking on this issue in The Guardian in 2020, Stevie reflected on the how important access to abortion had been for her in 1979.
‘If I had not had that abortion, I’m pretty sure there would have been no Fleetwood Mac. There’s just no way that I could have had a child then, working as hard as we worked constantly. And there were a lot of drugs, I was doing a lot of drugs … I would have had to walk away,’ she explained at the time.
She added: ‘And I knew that the music we were going to bring to the world was going to heal so many people’s hearts and make people so happy.
‘And I thought: “you know what? That’s really important. There’s not another band in the world that has two lead women singers, two lead women writers.” That was my world’s mission.’
And in the lead-up to this election, she praised Taylor Swift after she endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for president, telling fans that voting would be ‘the most important thing you ever do’.