Stevie Nicks' 'Storms': The Song Lindsey Buckingham 'Tore Apart'

Stevie Nicks and the Art of Compromise: When a Classic Song Was 'Torn Apart'

In the volatile, yet undeniably brilliant, ecosystem of Fleetwood Mac, the word "compromise" often felt less like a negotiation and more like a battlefield tactic. Few relationships within the band were as combustible as that between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Their personal history, famously documented in the raw honesty of the Rumours album, continued to fuel artistic tension, particularly during the creation of the ambitious follow-up, Tusk.

While the public often focused on the dramatic fallout captured on tracks like Nicks’ ‘Dreams’ versus Buckingham’s scathing ‘Go Your Own Way,’ the behind-the-scenes creative warfare was often more subtle, yet equally destructive to the ego. The dynamic between Buckingham’s meticulous perfectionism and Nicks’ innate, mystical storytelling created a constant tug-of-war—a tension that ultimately defined the sound of Tusk.

The Buckingham Nicks Blueprint

Long before Fleetwood Mac achieved global superstardom, the duo operated as Buckingham Nicks. During this period, Nicks often deferred to Buckingham’s guitar prowess, lending her ethereal vocals to his arrangements, as heard on tracks like ‘Crying in the Night.’ Even as Nicks solidified her role as the band’s spiritual compass with enduring classics like ‘Landslide’ and ‘Rhiannon,’ the partnership remained foundational.

However, the break-up with Buckingham following Rumours unleashed a flood of resentment channeled directly into songwriting. While Nicks processed her pain through the veiled melancholy of her work, Buckingham often opted for open confrontation. Yet, the friction didn’t cease upon the conclusion of the Rumours tour. If anything, the pressure to follow up one of music’s biggest albums pushed Buckingham toward radical sonic experimentation, often at the expense of his bandmates’ established visions.

The 'Tusk' Crucible: Restructuring Nicks' Vision

By the time Tusk sessions began, the band was expected to produce gold while simultaneously navigating frayed relationships. Buckingham, influenced by the angular sounds of post-punk, began reshaping the band’s direction. Nicks, meanwhile, felt her contributions were being undermined, particularly one deeply personal track: ‘Storms.’

Nicks had a clear, established structure for ‘Storms,’ a song that carried significant emotional weight. However, according to accounts from those close to the sessions, Buckingham treated the track not as a foundation, but as raw clay awaiting his definitive imprint. Carol Ann Harris, Buckingham’s longtime girlfriend at the time, famously recounted the intensity of this creative dismantling.

“He Tore It Apart”

Harris detailed how Buckingham took Nicks’ completed vision for ‘Storms’ and subjected it to intense scrutiny and reconstruction. “He tore it apart,” Harris recalled. “By the time he was finished dissecting everything in detail about what was wrong with the song, he smiled serenely and said, ‘I like it, Stevie. It just needs some work’.”

This anecdote perfectly encapsulates the power struggle endemic to the Tusk era. Buckingham’s method was one of surgical deconstruction, forcing Nicks to surrender control over her own narrative.

More Than Just Buckingham: The Mick Fleetwood Connection

Intriguingly, the resistance Nicks faced might have stemmed from the subject matter of ‘Storms’ itself. While many assumed the song was another lament aimed at Buckingham, Nicks had actually written the track about Mick Fleetwood, with whom she had also shared a romantic involvement. This revelation adds another layer of complexity to Buckingham’s aggressive restructuring; he was potentially interfering with a deeply personal confession aimed at another member of the core unit.

Ultimately, Tusk stands as a monument to artistic ambition, but perhaps more accurately, as Buckingham’s statement album, achieved through the necessary, often painful, restructuring of his bandmates’ material. For Nicks, who utilized music as her confessional, enduring this level of artistic control must have been a significant factor in her eventual decision to pursue a solo career just a few years later. The tension, documented in the sound of Tusk, proves that for Fleetwood Mac, compromise was the necessary, bruised foundation upon which their greatest art was built.