Planets of the Universe

“Planets of the Universe” is Track 4 on Trouble in Shangri-La (2001), Stevie Nicks‘ sixth solo album. It follows “Sorcerer” and precedes “Every Day” in the track order.

About the Song

Stevie wrote “Planets of the Universe” about her breakup with Lindsey Buckingham in 1976, while Fleetwood Mac was recording Rumours in Sausalito, California. Fleetwood Mac rehearsed the song for Rumours, but chose not to record it for the album. A demo of “Planets of the Universe” later appeared on the 2004 and 2013 deluxe editions of Rumours.

For the 2001 version, Stevie played keyboards and added new song verses. “It’s one of the heaviest songs I’ve ever written and I wrote it in anger, in all my drama — as dramatic as I was and probably still am. I went back and wrote the first part of the song a couple of months ago because I wanted to soften it a little bit.

“[‘Planets of the Universe’] was a huge statement for me to make, a very harsh thing for me to say,” Stevie explains. “It was just for six months [that I felt] I was depressed about love. The song was written when we were recording Rumours in [the] San Francisco [area]. I was tired of the city and very, very angry at Lindsey. How strange and funny, though, that I have lived alone all that time since (referring to the song’s lyric ‘I still wish you gone / And I will live alone.’)

Interestingly, Revolver (2001) interpreted “Planets of the Universe” as “worry about global warming in disarmingly eloquent terms” in its album review of Trouble in Shangri-La.

Stevie performed “Planets of the Universe” live in concert at some shows during the 2001 Trouble in Shangri-La Tour.

Lyrics

The bright light is lying down
The earth and the sea and the sky
Is at rest with the ocean
And the days go by

They go into the seas that have no shores
Haunted by that same closed door
Looking up at skies on fire
Leaving nothing left of us
To discover

And the planets of the universe
Go their way
Not astounded by the sun or the moon
Or by the day
You and I will simply disappear
Out of sight
But I’m afraid soon there’ll be
No light

No doubt, no pain
Come ever again, well
Let there be light in this lifetime
In the cool, silent moments of the nighttime

And the planets of the universe
Go their way
Not astounded by the sun or the moon
Or by the day
You and I will simply disappear
Out of sight
But I’m afraid soon there’ll be
No light

We will never change again
The way that we are changing
Well, you’ll forget the chill of love
But not the strain

Now I know
Well, I was wrong
To live for a dream
If I had my life to live over
I would never dream, no
I still wish you gone
And I will live alone
Yes, I will live alone

And the planets of the universe
Go their way
Not astounded by the sun or the moon
Or by the day
You and I will simply disappear
Out of sight
But I’m afraid soon there’ll be
No light

Additional lyrics

You will remember
But I will die a slow death
It’s only an overture to something that was best
And I don’t condescend to me
Take your leave
Take your leave
Take your leave of me now
Disappear into the air
I wish you gone
And I don’t care

You will never love again
The way you love me
You will never rule again
The way you ruled me
You will never change again
The way you’re changing

Release

Reprise Records issued “Planets of the Universe” as the second single from Trouble in Shangri-La. Although the single didn’t chart on the Billboard Hot 100, it reached No. 1 (for 1 week) on Hot Dance Club Play on August 11, 2001 by way of dance remixes of the song created by DJs Tracy Young and Illicit (Dillon & Dickins).

In December 2001, Stevie earned a Grammy nomination in the category of Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for “Planets of the Universe.” The award ultimately went to Lucinda Williams for “Get Right with God.”