Stevie Nicks Doesn't Like Performing This Deeply Emotional Song. Here's Why

Amidst her emotionally charged music catalogue, there is one song that Fleetwood Mac songstress Stevie Nicks refuses to perform: "Mabel Normand," named after the 1920s movie star. Interestingly, this isn't because of the sentimental space the track occupies in her heart. It's actually because this deeply personal song is simply too difficult to sing. According to Nicks, "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," she explained to Q (via Far Out).

For Stevie Nicks, it would surely be especially upsetting to botch "Mabel Normand." Like Nicks, Normand dealt with cocaine addiction. In a 2014 interview with Billboard, Nicks related her struggle with addiction to Mabel Normand's, "I just got addicted to coke, and that was a very bad drug for me. It was obviously a very bad drug for Mabel, too."

Stevie Nicks' has experienced a lot of tragedy in her life, with her addiction having a profound effect on her in the '70s and '80s. While speaking with Billboard, Nicks saw herself in Mabel Normand. "I saw a documentary of her in 1985, when I was at my lowest point with the blow ... I really felt a connection with her." Along with revealing she wrote "Mabel Normand" after watching the doc, Nicks added, "The documentary really scared me, because I saw this beautiful girl go downhill so fast. Sometimes you can't see it in yourself, but you sure as heck can see it in someone else." 

Nicks has transformed her life and embraced sobriety since the '90s, after dealing with cocaine and Klonopin addiction. While on "Beyond the Influence Radio with Tim McGraw" in 2021, Nicks reflected on saving herself from her addiction, "I got through some pretty scary moments, but I saved me ..." adding, "I checked myself into rehab. Nobody did that for me. I did it, and that's like with my whole life."