How Stevie Nicks Used ‘For What It’s Worth’ As a Political Statement
Stevie Nicks released “For What It’s Worth” in 2022, noting the timing regarding this cover’s premiere date. Here’s what the Fleetwood Mac member said about Stephen Stills’ song.
Stevie Nicks released ‘For What It’s Worth’ in 2022
“For What It’s Worth” was revisited and revived several times since its creation. Buffalo Springfield released a version in 1967. In 2022, the Fleetwood Mac member/chart-topping solo artist Nicks premiered a cover.
“Young people speaking their minds / Getting so much resistance from behind,” some lyrics state. According to Nicks (via Fleetwood Mac News), Stephen Stills’ songwriting managed “to cover everything” regarding social and political issues. The message still stands today.
“To cover everything that everybody’s complaining about, and fighting against, in the entire world,” she noted. “He managed, in that song, to touch on everything so subtly… you could have said, ‘Okay, is that song about gun violence? Is that song about women’s rights? Is it about immigration?’”
“You wouldn’t have had any idea exactly what it was about,” she added, “but you could take it all in to be about anything that you personally wanted it to be about.”
Stevie Nicks said it was ‘the right time’ to release ‘For What It’s Worth’
Nicks sometimes shares her political views with fans and once argued that she herself “fought for Roe v. Wade.” The same year Roe v. Wade was overturned, the artist released “For What It’s Worth.”
“If I’m going to sing some really famous rockstar guy’s song, I better sing it well, or I’m going to get totally panned,” Nicks said in the same interview. “So, I put everything I have into doing an interpretation of a song written by a man and sung by a man… especially such a famous man and songwriter as Stephen Stills.”
“So I really did try to stay as within Stephen’s realm as I could,” she continued. “And that’s really, basically what I tell the audience is, ‘This is a song I long wanted to record. This seemed to be the right time…’ I don’t know if I ever said whatever your views on anything are, I hope that you can rise above that and take it for what it is.”
The official YouTube music video earned over 2 million views, with images of Nicks traveling across the country.
Stevie Nicks released songs like ‘Edge of Seventeen’ and ‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around’
Nicks is best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac, writing some of their best-known hits and later branching out as a solo artist. For her solo project, this musician created “Edge of Seventeen.”
She even collaborated with other musicians, including Miley Cyrus for “Edge of Midnight.” “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” was recorded with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and released with 1981’s Bella Donna.
