‘Rhiannon’ (released as a single under the title ‘Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)’) is a song written by Stevie Nicks and originally recorded by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac on their eponymous album in 1975; it was issued as a single the following year. The song's U.S. chart peak was in June 1976, when it hit no. 11. The song peaked at no. 46 in the UK singles chart for three weeks after re-release in February 1978. ‘Rhiannon’ was voted no. 488 in The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine. They also ranked the song number six on their list of the 50 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs.
When Nicks performed the song live, she often introduced it by saying "This is a song about an old Welsh witch." During 1975–1982, Fleetwood Mac's live performances of ‘Rhiannon’ took on a theatrical intensity not present on the FM-radio single. The song built to a climax in which Nicks's vocals were so impassioned that, as drummer and band co-founder Mick Fleetwood recalled, "her Rhiannon in those days was like an exorcism."
Nicks discovered the Rhiannon character in the early 1970s through a novel called Triad by Mary Bartlet Leader. The novel is about a woman named Branwen who is possessed by a witch named Rhiannon. There is mention of the Welsh legend of Rhiannon in the novel, but the characters in the novel bear little resemblance to their original Welsh namesakes (both Rhiannon and Branwen are major female characters in the medieval Welsh prose tales of the Mabinogion).
After writing the song, Nicks learned in early 1978 that Rhiannon originated from a Welsh goddess, and was amazed that the haunting lyrics in her song applied to the Welsh Rhiannon as well. Nicks told the Los Angeles Times that a fan sent her “four paperback novels in a Manila envelope” five years after she first wrote ‘Rhiannon’ in 1973 that explored all the mythology behind the song. Included in the envelope was Evangeline Walton’s adaptation of the ancient British Mabinogion, which Nicks then bought the rights to after being “transfixed” by the prose. Nicks researched the Mabinogion story and began work on a Rhiannon project, unsure of whether it would become a movie, a musical, a cartoon, or a ballet. There were several Rhiannon-centered and themed songs from this unfinished project, including "Three Birds of Rhiannon (Maker of Birds)", "Forest of the Black Roses" and "Stay Away". Additionally, Nicks wrote the Fleetwood Mac song ‘Angel’ based on the Rhiannon story although at times she has stated that parts of the song was about Lindsey Buckingham.
In 2020, Nicks mentioned that she had started working on the Rhiannon project once again and that it will be in the form of a television miniseries. She has earmarked ten songs for the Rhiannon miniseries, all of which are unreleased.
Label – Reprise
Songwriter – Stevie Nicks
Producers – Fleetwood Mac, Keith Olsen
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night
And wouldn't you love to love her?
Takes to the sky like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover?
[Chorus]
All your life you've never seen
Woman taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven?
Will you ever win?
[Verse 2]
She is like a cat in the dark
And then she is the darkness
She rules her life like a fine skylark
And when the sky is starless
[Chorus]
All your life you've never seen
Woman taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven?
Will you ever win?
Will you ever win?
[Post-Chorus]
Rhiannon
Rhiannon
Rhiannon
Rhiannon
[Verse 3]
She rings like a bell through the night
And wouldn't you love to love her?
She rules her life like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover?
[Chorus]
All your life you've never seen
Woman taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven?
Will you ever win?
Will you ever win?
[Post-Chorus]
Rhiannon
Rhiannon
Rhiannon
[Bridge]
Taken by, taken by the sky
(Ah-ah)
Taken by, taken by the sky
(Ah-ah)
Taken by, taken by the sky
(Ah-ah)
[Guitar Solo]
[Outro]
Dreams unwind
Love's a state of mind
Dreams unwind
Love's a state of mind