Stevie Nicks - Edge of Seventeen 1981 Live

This is Stevie Nicks doing “Edge of Seventeen,” by far my favorite of her long list of credits, both as a solo artist and as the tambourine whammer in Fleetwood Mac. I spent my preteen and teens years worshipping the ground she stomped on with her tiny little feet in those enormous, ruffled, thigh-high boots.

A person like Stevie Nicks is really only digestible in this format. Her real self (or the “real” self she portrays to the world) is too much for any standard-issue human to handle. I remember reading some teen bio about her—you know, the type with lots of exclamation points and no negative facts—and even the storybook version of her life reads like an issue of Crazytown Tinies. Fact or fiction…who knows? But it is fun to think that this woman buys mansions only to make her bedroom in the master closet. Or that she used to love rollerskating parties with her bffs (those are two of her closest bffs singing in the background, by the way) and that you knew you’d been selected for the inner circle if she gave you a Sister of the Moon necklace. Sounds made up, right? What if it isn’t?

Even if it is, look at this video. The crazy white shawls kicking up (dancing white-winged dove, get it), the high kicks showing great legs under that weird witch persona, the grizzled voice, the smoky eyes, corona of angel’s hair, even those fierce nose holes all put together in this tiny little woman whose trademark stomp and tendency for drama beyond drama creates a compelling character even the most stoic non-believer can’t deny. I really doubt there is anyone on this green earth like her.