Stevie Nicks releases song inspired by fight for abortion rights: “Don’t let them take your power” | Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks has released a crisp new single, “The Lighthouse,” inspired by the fight to restore abortion rights in the US.

Nicks wrote the powerful, boastful rock song following the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2022 decision to overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that Americans had a constitutional right to abortion.

“It seemed like overnight people were asking, 'What can we do about this as a collective force?'” Nicks said. “For me it was about writing a song. It took a while because I was traveling. Then early one morning I was watching the news on TV and a certain news anchor said something that felt like she was speaking to me – explaining what the defeat of Roe v. Wade would mean. I wrote the song the next morning and recorded it that evening.

“That was on September 6, 2022. I’ve been working on it since then. I've often said to myself, “This may be the most important thing I've ever done.” “Stand up for the women of the United States and their daughters and granddaughters – and for the men who love them.” That's an anthem.”

In the song, Nicks portrays herself as the titular lighthouse woman who supports women in standing up for their rights. “I want to teach them how to fight / I want to tell them it’s happened before, don’t let it happen again,” she sings.

The chorus is similarly a call to action: “They'll take your soul, take your power, unless you stand up, take it back / Try to see the future and get angry / It's slipping through your fingers.” “You don't have what you had / And you don't have much time to get it back.”

Nicks is supported by Sheryl Crow, who plays guitar and bass and sings backing vocals. Crow also co-produced the song with 13-time Grammy winner Dave Cobb.

The Lighthouse was released amid a US election campaign in which access to abortion was a focus of the campaign.

Trump appointed the Supreme Court justices who overturned the decision during Joe Biden's presidency and bragged: “After 50 years of failure in which no one even came close, I was able to kill Roe v. Wade,” he said in the May. In August he said he “doesn't regret” the court decision and said: “The federal government should have nothing to do with this matter. “It is being resolved at the state level and people are very happy about it.”

Kamala Harris has repeatedly criticized Trump on the issue, characterizing him earlier this week as “the person who said women should be punished for making a decision they rightly should make about their own bodies and their futures.” “.

Since the abortion law has now been passed at the state level, 14 states have banned abortion, and another 11 states are described by the Center for Reproductive Rights as “hostile” to it. A study published this month by Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health found that forcing women to see unviable pregnancies through to term forces doctors to provide substandard care.

Nicks, 76, has focused her music on civil rights struggles in recent years. Her one-off 2020 track “Show Them the Way” was inspired by watching documentaries about the civil rights movement and has Nicks imagining herself performing at a political fundraiser attended by Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon, John F. Kennedy and others took part. She followed with a cover of Buffalo Springfield's “For What It's Worth,” which was originally inspired by clashes between police and youth over curfew in LA and became synonymous with the anti-Vietnam War movement.

“The Lighthouse” is a rare, all-new song for Nicks, whose last album of brand new material was 2011’s “In Your Dreams.” Re-recordings of earlier demos followed in 2014, 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault.

She has continued to tour in recent years, including a co-headline tour with Billy Joel in 2023 and 2024. She will be the musical guest on the October 12th edition of Saturday Night Live, where she is scheduled to perform The Lighthouse will perform.

While her new song certainly rebukes Trumpism, Nicks hasn't explicitly endorsed Harris. Instead, she has called for people to register to vote, and in a recent Instagram post, she alluded to Swift's support of Harris, writing, “As my friend Taylor Swift so eloquently said, now is the time “You and your beliefs.” She omitted “childless dog lady” in reference to Swift's own characterization as a “childless cat lady” and JD Vance's mocking description of the US Democrats.