music.wikisort.org - Composition

"Rhiannon" 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.[2] The song peaked at no. 46 in the UK singles chart for three weeks after re-release in February 1978.[3]

"Rhiannon"
Single by Fleetwood Mac
from the album Fleetwood Mac
B-side	"Sugar Daddy"
Released	February 1976 (US)[1]
Recorded	February 1975
Genre	Rock soft rock blues rock
Length	4:11 (Album version) 3:46 (Single version)
Label	Reprise
Songwriter(s)	Stevie Nicks
Producer(s)	Fleetwood Mac Keith Olsen
Fleetwood Mac singles chronology
"Over My Head" (1975) "Rhiannon" (1976) "Say You Love Me" (1976)

"Rhiannon" was voted no. 488 in The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine. They also ranked the song number two on their list of the 50 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs.[4]

The song is referred to as simply "Rhiannon" on Fleetwood Mac albums, except on the 2003 and 2016 remasters of Fleetwood Mac and the 2018 compilation album 50 Years – Don't Stop, on which the title "Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)" is used. The single version also used this title when it was originally released to the American and European markets.

When Nicks performed the song live, she often introduced it by saying "This is a song about an old Welsh witch."[5] During 1975–1980, 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' vocals were so impassioned that, as drummer and band co-founder Mick Fleetwood recalled, "her Rhiannon in those days was like an exorcism."[6]

Background

Nicks discovered the Rhiannon character in the early 1970s through a novel called Triad by Mary Bartlet Leader.[7] 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).[7][8]

After writing the song, Nicks learned that Rhiannon originated from a Welsh goddess, and was amazed that the haunting song lyrics applied to the Welsh Rhiannon as well. 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 "Stay Away" and "Maker of Birds." Additionally, Nicks wrote the Fleetwood Mac song "Angel" based on the Rhiannon story.[8]

Reception

Billboard described "Rhiannon" as a "haunting song" with an "infectious melody".[9]

Personnel

Fleetwood Mac

• Stevie Nicks – lead vocals
• Lindsey Buckingham – guitar, background vocals
• Christine McVie – keyboards, background vocals
• John McVie – bass guitar
• Mick Fleetwood – drums

Charts

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[19]	Platinum	600,000
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

In popular culture

• Author Glen Cook stated in an interview[20] that the title for his novel She Is the Darkness was taken from the lyrics of "Rhiannon".
• The song made an appearance in the second episode of American Horror Story: Coven and was subsequently performed by Nicks herself in a guest appearance in the tenth episode, "The Magical Delights of Stevie Nicks".

References

External links

• Song lyrics at the official Fleetwood Mac site

На других языках

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- [en] Rhiannon (song)

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[es] Rhiannon (canción)

«Rhiannon» es una canción de la banda británica de rock Fleetwood Mac, perteneciente al disco homónimo de 1975. Fue escrita por Stevie Nicks y se publicó como sencillo en febrero de 1976 para los Estados Unidos y en abril del mismo año en el Reino Unido, ambos por Reprise Records. Cabe mencionar que en ciertos mercados europeos fue titulado como «Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)», al momento de ser lanzado como sencillo.

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[ru] Rhiannon (песня)

«Rhiannon» — песня рок-группы Fleetwood Mac из их десятого студийного альбома 1975 года Fleetwood Mac. В 1976 вышла отдельным синглом. (Это был третий сингл с вышеназванного альбома).

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