Gypsy

“Gypsy” is the fifth track from British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac and their thirteenth studio album: “Mirage”. The song was released in September 1982, and was written by band member Stevie Nicks, with production done by Fleetwood Mac, Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut.

“Gypsy” has two symbolic stories behind it. The first one being a point of nostalgia for her and her previous relationship with Lindsey Buckingham in the early days of their relationship. She explained this in an interview in March 2009 with Entertainment Weekly: “In the old days, before Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey [Buckingham] and I had no money, so we had a king-size mattress, but we just had it on the floor. I had old vintage coverlets on it, and even though we had no money it was still really pretty… Just that and a lamp on the floor, and that was it—there was a certain calmness about it. To this day, when I’m feeling cluttered, I will take my mattress off of my beautiful bed, wherever that may be, and put it outside my bedroom, with a table and a little lamp.” For the second meaning behind “Gypsy”, the song is a tribute to Nicks’ friend Robin Snyder Anderson who sadly passed away in October 1982 from leukaemia.

The music video for “Gypsy” was the first ever “World Premiere Video” on MTV in 1982. Directed by Russell Mulcahy, the video was the highest-budget music video ever produced at the time, using several locations, many different costumes and dancers. The group is shown in a forest dancing, with a background of mountains and singing to the camera. However, the band were not on good terms during the shoot, with Nicks telling MTV in 2011 how difficult it was to dance with Buckingham, as the two hand just ended their relationship, but had to continue working together in their professional career. “We weren’t getting along well then. I didn’t want to be anywhere near him; I certainly didn’t want to be in his arms,” she says of the scene where the two are dancing. “If you watch the video, you’ll see I wasn’t happy. And he wasn’t a very good dancer.”
Since its upload to YouTube in September 2018, the video currently has 24.1 million views and over 127 thousand likes.

Release Date: 4th September 1982

Songwriter: Stevie Nicks

Producer/s: Lindsey Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac, Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut

Label: Warner Bros.

Music Video Release Date: 1982

Music Video Director: Russell Mulcahy

Chart Rankings & Certifications: In its year of release, “Gypsy” hit #17 in Australian charts, #3 and #16 in Canadian charts, #35 in Germany, #25 in Ireland, #42 in the Netherlands, #46 in the UK, #12 on the US Billboard Hot 100, #13 on the US Cashbox Hot 100, #9 on the US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary charts and #4 on the US Mainstream Rock chart. “Gypsy” has Silver certification in the UK.

The lyrics to “Gypsy” can be accessed here: LINK