Fleetwood Mac’s singer Stevie Nicks' signature song, one of the many classic hits produced by the group in the mid ‘70s, constantly voted as one of the top all time 500. Based on the story of a legendary old Welsh witch, Goddess – Rhiannon.
Part of the group’s second best selling album, aptly named...
[Verse 1]
Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night
And wouldn't you love to love her?
Takes to the sky like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover?
[Chorus]
All your life you've never seen
Woman taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven?
Will you ever win?
[Verse 2]
She is like a cat in the dark
And then she is the darkness
She rules her life like a fine skylark
And when the sky is starless
[Chorus]
All your life you've never seen
Woman taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven?
Will you ever win?
Will you ever win?
[Post-Chorus]
Rhiannon
Rhiannon
Rhiannon
Rhiannon
[Verse 3]
She rings like a bell through the night
And wouldn't you love to love her?
She rules her life like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover?
[Chorus]
All your life you've never seen
Woman taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven?
Will you ever win?
Will you ever win?
[Post-Chorus]
Rhiannon
Rhiannon
Rhiannon
[Bridge]
Taken by, taken by the sky
(Ah-ah)
Taken by, taken by the sky
(Ah-ah)
Taken by, taken by the sky
(Ah-ah)
[Guitar Solo]
[Outro]
Dreams unwind
Love's a state of mind
Dreams unwind
Love's a state of mind
Rhiannon was written by Stevie Nicks.
Rhiannon was produced by Fleetwood Mac & Keith Olsen.
Fleetwood Mac released Rhiannon on Fri Jul 11 1975.
Although Nicks took the name Rhiannon from an unrelated novel, the lyrics of the song accidentally resemble a goddess from a Welsh story collection. After learning about this, Nicks began incorporating the Welsh myth into the song’s aesthetics. Live performances were often faster, darker and more po...
Stevie Nicks told Rolling Stone:
I wrote this song and made [Rhiannon] into what I thought was an old Welsh witch. It’s just about a very mystical woman that finds it very, very hard to be tied down in any kind of way.
She also told The Guardian about comments that claimed she was a witch:
‘Rhian...
Rolling Stone named it the #2 greatest Fleetwood Mac song, saying:
Shortly before she and Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac, Nicks picked up a novel called Triad at an airport. The book told the story of a Welsh woman who believes she’s been possessed by another woman, named Rhiannon. ‘I wrote this s...