Gold Dust Woman
| "Gold Dust Woman" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Song by Fleetwood Mac | ||
| From the album Rumours | ||
| Album released | 1977 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Song Length | 4:55 | |
| Record label | Reprise | |
| Producers | Fleetwood Mac | |
| Track Number | Track 11 | |
Gold Dust Woman is a song from the best-selling Fleetwood Mac album Rumours. It was written and sung by Stevie Nicks and released as a b-side to the "You Make Loving Fun" single. It is regarded as one of the best songs from that incarnation of Fleetwood Mac, allbeit one of the most obscure. [citation needed]
Interpretations
Many regard the lyrics as to having references to drug use:
Rock on, gold dust woman,
Take your silver spoon,
And dig your grave
These opening lines are seen by many as a drug statement. The image of almost killing oneself with cocaine would in a few short years describe the band in general, and Nicks in particular. Some also see some of the lyrics as an attack on Lindsey Buckingham, with whom she was breaking up with at the time:
They say rulers, they make bad lovers,
You'd better put your kingdom up for sale
Buckingham is regarded as the creative driving force behind the band at this time so these lyrics could be said to be an attack at him.
When asked about the song in an interview with Courtney Love for SPIN magazine in (October, 1997), Nicks said:
You know what, Courtney? I don't really know what ‘Gold Dust Woman’ is about. I know there was cocaine there and that I fancied it gold dust, somehow. I'm going to have to go back to my journals and see if I can pull something out about ‘Gold Dust Woman.’ Because I don't really know. It's weird that I'm not quite sure. It can't be all about cocaine.
This only adds to the obscurity of the lyrics.
Covers
A cover version by Hole was released on the soundtrack to The Crow: City of Angels.