“The Lighthouse” is a track by Stevie Nicks, released digitally to streaming services on September 27, 2024. Commercial CD and 7″ vinyl singles were released on November 1, 2024.
About the Song
Stevie released three teaser clips of “The Lighthouse” from September 25 to 27. On the date of its release, Stevie issued the following statement about the song:
“I wrote this song a few months after Roe v. Wade was overturned. It seemed like overnight, people were saying “what can we, as a collective force, do about this…” For me, it was to write a song. It took a while because I was on the road. Then early one morning I was watching the news on TV and a certain newscaster said something that felt like she was talking to me~ explaining what the loss of Roe v. Wade would come to mean. I wrote the song the next morning and recorded it that night. That was September 6, 2022. I have been working on it ever since. I have often said to myself, “This may be the most important thing I ever do. To stand up for the women of the United States and their daughters and granddaughters ~ and the men that love them. This is an anthem.” ~ Stevie Nicks
She further elaborated to People.
“I find it very sad, at 76 years old, I had to see Roe v. Wade taken away. Two years ago, when I realized the consequences of women’s rights that are vanishing, I watched a lot of news, and I was like a sponge — it just went into me.
One morning I woke up… which, I never write when I wake up in the morning, and all of a sudden went, ‘I have my scars, I have my scars,’ so I just grabbed my notebook, and I started writing the whole thing. It was a long-form poem, and I didn’t know what kind of song that would be. I found an instrumental that I loved and within two or three days, I had recorded the song. I never redid the vocal — it’s an original vocal — and it’s taken me two years.
This song has traveled around; it has been in the hands of many producers, of many musicians, of many people that have helped with it. Sheryl Crow, bless her, came in and was such a help with the production. Dave Cobb did the incredible classical guitar chords and was the first producer I worked with on the song. I’ve been touring solidly for two years, so the whole time, we’ve been working on this song. I never thought it would take two years to get it to the point where it was perfect.”
All the stories that we tell about the necessity for women’s healthcare and the necessity for a safe and legal abortion option for women is absolutely necessary” (Nicks, 2024).
On October 2, 2024, Stevie shared the following two photos from “The Lighthouse” music video shoot.
“The Lighthouse” is the first track in Stevie Nicks’ career to use a sample. The track begins with a sample of “Something Heavens” as recorded by H.U.V.A Network, used courtesy of Ultimate Records.
Lyrics
I have my scars
You have yours
Don’t let them
Take your power
Don’t leave it alone
In the final hours
They’ll take your soul
They’ll take your power
Don’t close your eyes
And hope for the best
The dark is out there
The light is going fast
Until the final hours
Your life’s forever changed
And all the rights that you had yesterday
Are taken away
And now you’re afraid
You should be afraid
Should be afraid
Because everything I fought for
Long ago in a dream, is gone
Someone said the dream is not over
The dream has just begun
Or ~
Is it a nightmare
Is it a lasting scar
It is, unless you save it
And that’s that
Unless you stand up
And take it back
Take it back
I have my scars
You have yours
Don’t let them
Take your power
Don’t leave it alone
In the final hours
They’ll take your soul
They’ll take your power
Unless you stand up
And take it back
Try to see the future
And get mad
It’s slippin’ through your fingers
You don’t have what you had
You don’t have much time
To get it back
I wanna to be the lighthouse
Bring all of you together
Bring it out in a song
Bring it out in the stormy weather
Tell them the story
I wanna teach ’em to fight
I wanna tell ’em
This has happened before
Don’t let it happen again
I have my scars
You have yours
Don’t let them
Take your power
Don’t leave it alone
In the final hours
They’ll take your soul
They’ll take your power
Unless you save it
And that’s that
Unless you stand up
And take it back
Try to see the future
And get mad
It’s slippin’ through your fingers
You don’t have what you had
You don’t have much time
You gotta get in the game
You gotta learn how to play
You gotta make a change
You gotta do it today
In the midnight hour
They’ll slam the door
Make you forget what
You were fighting for
Put you back in your place
They’ll shut you down
You better learn how to fight
You better say it out loud
This is war
(Stevie Nicks / Mangus Birgersson / Vincent Villuis) ℗© 2024 Stevie Nicks under exclusive license to Warner Records Inc.
Original Poem
Shared to Stevie Nicks’s social media on October 22, 2022
Credits
Producer: Stevie Nicks
Producer: Sheryl Crow
Producer: Dave Cobb
Engineer: Alberto Vaz
Engineer: Brandon Bell
Guitar: Dave Cobb
Engineer: Eric Caudieux
Engineer: Ethan Barrette
Engineer: Karen Johnston
Assistant Mixer: Kieron Beardmore
Background Vocals: Lori Nicks
Mixer: Mark “Spike” Stent
Assistant Mixer: Matt Wolach
Keyboards: Philip Towns
Engineer: Phillip Smith
Masterer: Randy Merrill
Bass: Sheryl Crow
Electric Guitar: Sheryl Crow
Background Vocals: Sheryl Crow
Vocals: Stevie Nicks
Additional Guitar: Waddy Wachtel
Writer: Mangus Birgersson
Writer: Stevie Nicks
Writer: Vincent Villuis
Lighthouse illustration: Chris Isaak
Art Directin and Design: Stephen Walker
References
Nelson, J. (2024, September 27). Stevie Nicks wrote new pro-choice anthem after she saw Roe v. Wade ‘taken away’: ‘I find it very sad.’ People. https://people.com/stevie-nicks-discusses-new-song-the-lighthouse-abortion-access-exclusive-8719365
Nicks, S. (2024, September 26). The Lighthouse is available everywhere now. https://x.com/StevieNicks/status/1839516159038665124
