Using Normand as a vehicle to write about addiction was a more comfortable setting for Nicks to navigate the topic rather than approaching it from an autobiographical angle. (Faroutmagazine)
Although her creation, ‘Mabel Normand’, is technically about the eponymous figure who inspired the Fleetwood Mac singer to pen the track, without her experience of suffering addiction first-hand, she wouldn’t have gravitated towards Normand’s story.
But this is not the only song that represents the dramas experienced by Stevie Nicks. A tragedy inspired Stevie Nicks to write 'Gypsy'. (Watch video below)
The song, written by Nicks, was originally intended to feature on her solo debut Bella Donna in 1980, however, given the limited space that records allowed back then, it fell shy of making the cut.
A close friend, Robin Andersen, fell ill and died of leukemia. Robin was pregnant and had to give birth in the sixth month, and died two days later. Nicks and Robin's partner decided to settle down to take care of the baby, which didn't work out and they divorced three or four months later. “I was determined to take care of that baby, so I said to Kim, 'I don't know, I guess we should just get married.' And so we got married three months after she died, and it was a terrible, terrible mistake.
To return to Normand song, (Video Below) she was born in Staten Island in 1893 and began working closely with Charlie Chaplin.
For years, she was one of the leading names in the film industry, but contrarily, the latter period of her life was full of scandal. When she passed away in 1930, Normand was a persona non grata in Hollywood, and her name was sullied. Normand was cocaine dependent for a long period of time and associated with unsavoury characters.
When Nicks became acquainted with Normand’s life story, she immediately drew parallels between her position and the late actresses. The singer was acutely aware that her fate could be the same as Mabel’s if she didn’t change her cocaine-fuelled ways.
“Mabel was an amazing actress and comedian from the ’20s, and she was a terrible cocaine addict,” Nicks once explained. “She eventually died of tuberculosis, but it was really her drug addiction that killed her.”
She added: “I saw a documentary of her in 1985 when I was at my lowest point with the blow. I was watching TV one night, the movie came on, and I really felt a connection with her. That’s when I wrote the song. Less than a year later, I went to rehab at Betty Ford.”
Learning about Mabel Normand helped Nicks on her journey to getting clean; therefore, the song will always be incredibly emotional for her. However, surprisingly that isn’t why she chooses against performing the effort live. Instead, she claimed it’s simply too difficult to sing. About the song Nicks said: “If you take a breath, you get off the beat. You’re one word too late, you can never get back on, and you’re dead in the water.”
(You can read the full story at Faroutmag)
