“Gold Dust Woman” is Track 11 on the original version of Rumours (1977), Fleetwood Mac‘s eleventh album. There are different mixes of the song on subsequent releases of Rumours (see below). It follows “Oh Daddy” in the original album track order.
About the Song
Stevie Nicks wrote “Gold Dust Woman” about living in the heavy rock and roll scene — balancing the demands of being in Fleetwood Mac, while dealing with drugs and her breakup from guitarist Lindsey Buckingham.
“Gold Dust” refers to cocaine. “It was about…keeping going. It was about cocaine. And after all these years, since I haven’t done any cocaine since 1986, I can talk about it now. But it was at that point, I don’t think I had ever been so tired in my whole life as I was when we were like doing that.
“You know, I think it was shocking me. The whole rock ‘n’ roll life was really heavy, and it was so much work and it was so everyday intense. Being in Fleetwood Mac was like being in the army. It was like you have to be there. You have to be there and you have to be there as on time as you can be there. And even if there nothing you have to do, you have to be there.
“So ‘Gold Dust Woman’ was really my kind of symbolic look at somebody going through a bad relationship, and doing a lot of drugs, and trying to just make it, trying to live, you know trying to get through it to the next thing.”
Stevie also alludes to the female groupies, who would hang around the band and give “dirty looks” to her and keyboardist Christine McVie only to change to smiles when the men would walk into the room.
The title is derived from the street name “Gold Dust Lane” in Wickenburg, Arizona (in Maricopa County), where Stevie grew up as a child.
Lyrics
Rock on gold dust woman
Take your silver spoon
Dig your grave
Heartless challenge
Pick your path and I’ll pray
Wake up in the morning
See your sunrise loves to go down
Lousy lovers pick their prey
But they never cry out loud
Cry out
Did she make you cry
Make you break down
Shatter your illusions of love
And is it over now
Do you know how
Pick up the pieces and go home
Rock on ancient queen
Follow those who pale
In your shadow
Rulers make bad lovers
You better put your kingdom up for sale
Up for sale
Well, did she make you cry
Make you break down
Shatter your illusions of love
Well, is it over now
Do you know how
Pickup the pieces and go home
Well, did she make you cry
Make you break down
Shatter your illusions of love
And now tell me is it over now
Do you know how
Pickup the pieces and go home
Go home
Go home
Ooh, pale
Shadow
Of a woman
Black widow
Pale
Shadow
Of a dragon
Dust woman
Ooh, pale
Shadow
Of a woman
Black widow
Pale
Shadow
She’s a dragon
Gold dust woman
Woman, woman
(Stevie Nicks) © 1977 Welsh Witch Music (BMI)/Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Appears On
- Rumours (1977)
- 25 Years: The Chain, alternate mix (1992)
- Rumours – DVD-Audio, different mix (2001)
- Rumours – Super Audio CD, different mix (2001)
- The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac (2002)
- Rumours Expanded & Remastered (2004)
- Rumours – Deluxe Edition (2013)
Gold Dust Woman (Live in San Francisco, 1987)
Gold Dust Woman (Live in Burbank, CA, 1997)
Gold Dust Woman (Live in Chicago, 2007)
Reference
Nicks, S. (1998) Behind the music: Fleetwood Mac [interview]. Viacom.
