Sara

I remember as a child -- only source of music was the car radio, over which I had no control. And a song would start playing, and if it grabbed me I'd concentrate so intently, trying to drink in every note above the racket of the engine knowing that it might be days, months or ever til I'd hear it again. This was one of those songs...

Sara [is my most personal song] It's about myself, and what all of us in Fleetwood Mac were going through at the time. The true version of that song is 16 minutes long. It's a saga with many verses people haven't heard. ~Stevie Nicks, Us magazine, July 1990

[On who Sara is] Probably my alter ego, my other self. ~Stevie Nicks, Montreal Interview

I wrote Sara on the piano, by myself. The original Sara was 16 minutes long. Like about nine more verses than what you hear on the record. It got edited down to 14 minutes, down to 11 minutes, down to 9 minutes, down to 7 minutes, down to 4 minutes and 40 seconds. I was to the point where I went, 'Is the word Sara even going to be left in the song?'

I knew that Sara would be very popular because I loved writing that song. I've had more fun writing that...I remember the night I wrote it. 'I sat up with a very good friend of mine whose name is Sara, who was married to Mick Fleetwood. She likes to think it's completely about her, but it's really not completely about her. It's about me, about her, about Mick, about Fleetwood Mac. Its about all of us at that point. There's little bits about each one of us in that song and when it had all the other verses it really covered a vast bunch of people. Sara was the kind of song you could fall in love with, because I fell in love with it... ~Stevie Nicks, Tommy Vance show, May 1994

[On whether the line in the song Sara, 'When you build your house, I'll come by' is about Don Henley, whom she was dating at the time?] (laughs) That is true. He did [build the house]. And I was in it before he finished it. ~Stevie Nicks, Us magazine, July 1990

If I ever have a little girl I will name her Sara. It's a very special name to me. I love singing it on stage. It's the absolute delight of my night. There's so much in Sara. And it is ~ the poet in my heart, for sure. ~Stevie Nicks, Jim Ladd Innerview, 1979

There were some great similarities [in the lyrics], and I never said she didn't write the words she wrote. Just don't tell me I didn't write the words I wrote. Most people think that the other party will settle out of court, but she picked the wrong songwriter. To call me a thief about my first love, my songs, that's going too far. [After a few months, the woman's lawyers finally gave up, stating] 'We believe you.' ~Stevie Nicks, on her lawsuit over the song Sara, Rolling Stone, 1981

My mom and I listened to the song a lot, trying to think of what the song could be, and I turned up the song really loud in my room to hear the quiet parts (I never could hear them though...)

The "All I ever wanted to know was that you were sleeping", was that someone important to the singer, a grown up person or a baby, died and the singer wished the person hadn't. Or it was a baby that died, or people thought the person or baby would die, but he/she didn't.

Though at the end, I was really sad and cried because it seemed like the person or baby did die.

The "never change, never stop", I thought was the singer telling someone that they were fine the way they were, and that person was a good person, but he/she changed a lot and so the singer thought that nothing mattered anymore.

The "drowning in the sea of love" I think is like doing anything for someone you love, or loving someone enough to die for them but for some reason "it's gone", as if no one loves or cares anymore, maybe.

I also really thought that the "build your house" part was about a mom talking to her child, telling her/him that even when they grew up she would always be around and would come visit, not in a prying parent sort of way, but a loving, supportive way.

My name is Sarah, and my mom told me that she always thought of me when she listened to this song, and she told me not to change. I thought that I would keep being a good person and be kind to people.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts and interpretation on the song!

i just looked it up.... wow i was kinda right.. The inspiration for the song was a combination between Sara Recor-Fleetwood who was Mick Fleetwood's then girlfriend (she later became his wife) as well as a friend of Stevie's, & Stevie's fondness for the name -- the song is in part a dedication to the spirit of an aborted child that would have been named Sara (hence the "Sara, you're the poet in my heart/Never change, never stop" & "there's a heartbeat, and it never really died" lines). I hope that helped to answer your question. Though of an intensely personal nature, it's such a beautiful song... has always been one of my favorites

I have been a Fleetwood Mac fan ever since my mom introduced me to her Dance album when she went to the concert with my aunt. This is one of my favorite songs from Fleetwood Mac, and I have heard about the plagerism that may/may not have went on, but I do know that when I went to the concert in Cedar Falls of July 04', they played it for the 1st time in a long while and it was awesome.

Sara was my favorite [song] ~ for that kind of song. Sara was, and is, the love of my life. There are different kinds of favorites. You have your miserable favorites and your happy favorites. I can't pick just one [song]. ~Stevie Nicks, Arizona Living Magazine, September 1983

Dreaming...and the wind became...crazy! And he hugged me, gently. ~Stevie Nicks, additional ending lyrics from an unreleased, 7 minute version of Sara

Sara was pretty much about Mick. So, he was the 'great dark wing'. And, ah, it was about everything that was going on at that particular time, too, but he was the, the reason for the, you know, the beginning of it. ~Stevie Nicks, MTV Fanatic, 1998

well actually my name came from this song and i really dont know what its about i was hoping to find out neither of my parents know what its about either but decieded to name me after it cause they are big stevie nicks fans and my they names my sister rhiannon after her other song

I do know that a fan wrote a poem about her daughter Sara and that is how Stevie came up with the song. The writer sued her, BUT she had never copyrighted the poem herself, so it was considered fair game. May not have been nice, but it was not illegal.

This song seems to be about a woman, Sara, who lives by her ideals even though she has grown up. The narrator of the song (this is supposed to be Stevie, I think) admires this quality about her, and does not want the disappointments that come from life, such as a relationship, to ruin this part of her personality.

i'm not too in love with the lyrics, but i LOVE how the song is so well composed. it's incrediably beautiful and it gives me a very calming feeling..like things arent going well in my life, but it'll be okay. ..i guess like a momma's comfort :)