“If Anyone Falls” is from The Wild Heart (1983), Stevie Nicks‘ second solo album. Riding high from the success of Bella Donna (1981), Stevie began working with fellow singer-songwriter Sandy Stewart, a partnership that would continue Stevie’s string of Top 40 hits.
Sandy had written the instrumental track on a synthesizer. She had been working on demos with producer Gordon Perry, but couldn’t come up with lyrics for this particular track. So she gave the track to Stevie, who added lyrics that would become the song “If Anyone Falls.”
Somewhere in the back of your mind…
- Second single from The Wild Heart
- Inspired by guitarist Waddy Wachtel
- Reached No. 14 on Billboard Pop Singles chart
“[If Anyone Falls] is the first song that I wrote with Sandy, Stevie recalls. “I’ve probably prayed for so many years that I’d find somebody I could write songs with, and I finally found her. She lives in Houston, and she’s totally crazy. She’s a brilliant musician and what she does for me is she writes a song, goes in with a band and records it, sends me the track, track sounds great. I go into my bathroom, put it on my stereo, plug in my tape recorder, sing along, record it right there. I play it for everybody the next day, everybody goes crazy, and that’s it.
Stevie shot a music video for “If Anyone Falls” and remembered having trouble with some of the dance moves. “The director wanted me to dance with this guy and throw my head back, and I couldn’t do it. We had to call in a backup singer to do it. I called her my stunt neck.”
The music video also featured a cameo from Mick Fleetwood, who was returning the favor of Stevie appearing in his music video for “I Want You Back” (1983).
