Sara (Fleetwood Mac song)

"Sara" was originally conceived as a poem without any music attached to it, although Nicks later came up with a chord progression and melody to accompany it. Nicks told Fleetwood Mac engineer Hernán Rojas that she developed the lyrics and melody while doing ballet with a Russian teacher in a mirrored room with Jean-Michel Jarre's Oxygène playing in the background.{{Cite book |last1=Caillat |first1=Ken |title=Get Tusked: The Inside Story of Fleetwood Mac's Most Anticipated Album |last2=Rojas |first2=Hernan |publisher=Backbeat Books |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-4930-5983-6 |location=Guilford, Connecticut |pages=50, 159, 161, 163}}

Speaking in a radio interview for the Friday Rock Show with Tommy Vance in the early 1990s, Stevie Nicks said the song was partially written about her good friend, Sara Recor, who later married Nicks' ex-lover and bandmate, Mick Fleetwood.{{Cite web|last=Nicks|first=Stevie|date=May 1994|title=Stevie Nicks on Sara|url=http://www.inherownwords.com/sara.htm |access-date=16 March 2021|website=Stevie Nicks In Her Own Words |quote='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...|interviewer=Tommy Vance}}

However, Nicks' former boyfriend Don Henley claimed that the song is about their unborn child.{{cite web|url=http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.php?page=index_v2&id=349&c=11|quote=Years later, Henley had this to say about his affair with Nicks: "[Stevie had] named the unborn kid Sara, and she had an abortion." She then wrote the song of the same name (which became a huge hit for her) and, according to Henley, dedicated it "to the spirit of the aborted baby"|title=Fleetwood Mac |website=Fleetwood Mac.net |access-date=24 May 2014|archive-date=22 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222001014/http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.php?page=index_v2&id=349&c=11 |url-status=dead}} In 1979, Nicks said, "If I ever have a little girl, I will name her Sara. It's a very special name to me." In a 2014 Billboard interview Nicks said, "Had I married Don and had that baby, and had she been a girl, I would have named her Sara... It's accurate, but not the entirety of it."{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6266329/stevie-nicks-interview-on-don-henley-fleetwood-mac-24-karat-gold-album |title=Stevie Nicks on Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, and Don Henley |magazine=Billboard |date=26 September 2014}}

In his 2014 autobiography, Fleetwood agreed with the suggestion that the song referred to an affair with a friend named Sara which ended his own relationship with Nicks. Fleetwood and Nicks had been involved in a romantic relationship in the late 1970s. The lyrics, "and he was just like a great dark wing/within the wings of a storm" refer to Fleetwood being an emotional comfort zone for Nicks following her breakup with fellow band member Lindsey Buckingham.{{cite book |last1=Fleetwood |first1=Mick|last2=Bozza |first2=Anthony |title=Play On: Now, Then & Fleetwood Mac: The Autobiography |year=2014 |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |isbn=978-1-444-75325-7}} Although the relationship was not exclusive on either side, Fleetwood stated that Nicks became upset when she learned of Fleetwood's relationship with her best friend, Sara. This relationship effectively ended the romance between Nicks and Fleetwood.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3667803/Stevie-Nicks-a-survivors-story.html|title=Stevie Nicks: a survivor's story |last=Brown |first=Mick |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=7 September 2007|access-date=15 September 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}

"Sara" began as a 16-minute demo with Sara Recor by her side. "[She] kept the cassettes coming and made sure we didn't run out of batteries, and it was a long, long night recording that demo." Upon completing the demo, she showed the 16-minute song to JD Souther and Don Henley, who both said "You know what, it's almost not too long. It's almost good in its full 16 minuteness–it's got all these great verses and it just kinda travels the world of your relationships."{{Cite AV media notes |title=Tusk (2015 Remastered Deluxe Edition) |title-link=Tusk (album) |others=Fleetwood Mac |year=2016 |first=Jim |last=Irvin |page=14 |type=liner notes |publisher=Warner Bros. Records Inc. |id=Publisher Warner Bros #2HS-3350 |location=Los Angeles}} She recorded the demo in a Dallas recording studio situated in a renovated church. The recording studio was owned by Gordon Perry, who was acquainted with Keith Olsen, who produced the Buckingham Nicks album.{{Cite book |last=Davis |first=Stephen |title=Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks |publisher=St. Martins Press |year=2017 |isbn=9781250032904 |location=New York, NY |page=129}} While Nicks knew she had to cut some verses from "Sara", she struggled to bring the song under seven minutes.

Rojas and producer Ken Caillat heard the cassette for "Sara" and encouraged Nicks to refine it further so she could present it to the rest of the band. Rojas suggested to Nicks that they record another demo on a Sunday, which she agreed to.{{cite podcast |url=https://audioboom.com/posts/7710494-fleetwood-mac-s-tusk-an-interview-with-the-producer-and-engineer|title=Fleetwood Mac's 'Tusk' - An Interview with the Producer and Engineer|website=Rockin' the Suburbs|host=Patrick Foster and Jim Lenahan|date=23 October 2020 |time=15:38, 19:16|access-date=14 October 2023}} Tom Moncrieff, who later played bass on Nicks' Bella Donna album in 1981, assisted with the recording of the new demo at The Village Recorders by providing acoustic guitars and bass.{{Cite web |title=Q&A Sessions - Tom Moncrieff: August 20, 2008, Page 1|url=http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/fwm/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=623&Itemid=383 |access-date=2023-10-14 |website=www.fleetwoodmac.net}} Moncrieff's girlfriend, Annie McLoone, also sang backing vocals. Moncrieff used a Fender Precision Bass for this recording, which was sent through a fat box effects unit.

Nicks sang her lead vocals while playing a tack piano, which was recorded with two AKG 451 microphones. Originally, the band wanted Christine McVie to redo Nicks' piano part and planned for Nicks to record a new vocal take, but upon listening to the recording, they realized that "the timing of it was so individual-there was no way Chris could get in there." Nicks' piano leaked into her vocal mic, which made it difficult to separate the vocals and piano. Some of the other members objected to the use of Nicks' vocals and piano; they believed that the timing was "all over the place", so Fleetwood decided to play brushes on the recording instead of drum sticks to allow for a more fluid drum performance. Fleetwood spent around 24 hours "dropping in phrases, schmoozing my way around her timing... that's the track that survived, with Stevie playing the piano".

John McVie later replaced Moncrieff's bass track, although Moncrieff claimed that some of his acoustic guitar playing was retained in the final mix. Caillat also invited Christine McVie back to the studio to record a second piano part. The two piano tracks were then hard-panned to separate channels.

Billboard thought that Stevie Nicks' lead vocals and the "midtempo backing" arrangement contributed to the song's "melodic texture" and accessibility.{{cite magazine|title=Billboard's Top Single Picks|date=15 December 1979|page=70|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=17 January 2025|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1979/Billboard%201979-12-15.pdf |via=World Radio History}} Cash Box called "Sara" "a lush, entrancing Stevie Nicks composition, with effectively echoed lead vocals by Nicks" and called the arrangement "glistening".{{cite news|title=CashBox Singles Reviews|date=15 December 1979|page=11|newspaper=Cash Box|accessdate=1 January 2022|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1979/CB-1979-12-15.pdf |via=World Radio History}} Record World said that "While Stevie's vocals haunt, the inimitable McVie-Fleetwood rhythm section hypnotizes."{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=15 December 1979|accessdate=11 February 2023|title=Hits of the Week|page=1|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/79/RW-1979-12-15.pdf |via=World Radio History}} Matthew Fiander of PopMatters described the single-edit of "Sara" as a "claustrophobic four-ish minutes", but was more complimentary of both the 6:22 version and the extended mix found on the deluxe edition of Tusk.{{Cite web |last=Fiander|first=Matthew|date=12 February 2016|title=Fleetwood Mac: Tusk (Deluxe Edition) |url=https://www.popmatters.com/fleetwood-mac-tusk-deluxe-edition-2495454111.html |access-date=23 July 2023 |website=PopMatters |language=en-US}} The Guardian and Paste ranked the song number five and number 15 respectively on their lists of the 30 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/may/19/fleetwood-mac-ranked-30-best-songs|title=Fleetwood Mac's 30 greatest songs – ranked!|first=Alexis|last=Petridis|work=The Guardian|date=19 May 2022|accessdate=18 October 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/fleetwood-mac/30-best-fleetwood-mac-songs|title=The 30 Greatest Fleetwood Mac Songs|first=Matt|last=Mitchell|work=Paste|date=7 August 2023|accessdate=18 October 2023}}

The version of the song featured on the original vinyl release of Tusk was the unedited 6:22 version, but when Tusk was first released as a single compact disc in 1987 it featured the edited single version, which leaves out the middle verse and musical bridge. It was not until the 1988 Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits compilation was released that the 6:22 version of the song became available on compact disc.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/sara-mt0004086084|title=Sara – Fleetwood Mac|website=AllMusic|language=en-us|access-date=11 June 2019}}

There is also a version known as "the cleaning lady" edit, so-called as Nicks is heard at the beginning of the demo recording, "I don't want to be a cleaning lady!" This version lasts almost nine minutes and was released on the 2-disc remastered version Tusk in March 2004. The song contains an extended vamp, which includes excised lines previously only heard in live performances, such as, "and the wind became crazy", "no sorrow for sorrow, you can have no more", and "swallow all your pride, don't you ever change—never change".

On 5 November 2015, a live version was released as part of a remastered Tusk. This recording features a heavier hitting drum beat from Fleetwood.{{cite magazine|last=Grow |first=Kory |title=Hear Fleetwood Mac's 'Real Pretty' Live 'Sara' From New 'Tusk' Box Set |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-fleetwood-macs-real-pretty-live-sara-from-new-tusk-box-set-20151105|magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=8 November 2015|date=5 November 2015}} The 2018 Fleetwood Mac 50 Years – Don't Stop album includes the single edit of the song.[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0003214000|pure_url=yes}} 50 Years: Don't Stop. AllMusic review]

In 1980, Nicks was sued for plagiarism by a songwriter who had submitted a song called "Sara", which she had sent to Warner Bros. in 1978. Nicks showed that she had written and recorded a demo version of the song in July 1978, before the lyrics were sent to Warner, and the complainant accepted that no plagiarism had occurred.{{cite magazine |url=http://rockalittle.com/rs9-3-1981.htm |title=With Her New Solo Album, Fleetwood Mac's Good Fairy Tries to Balance Two Careers – and Two Personalities |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=3 September 1981 |last=White |first=Timothy|access-date=24 May 2014}}

• Stevie Nicks – lead vocals, tack piano
• Lindsey Buckingham – guitars, backing vocals
• Christine McVie – piano, backing vocals
• John McVie – bass guitar
• Mick Fleetwood – drums

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for "Sara"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|type=single|region=United Kingdom|artist=Fleetwood Mac|title=Sara|award=Silver|relyear=2004|certyear=2021|id=17451-1472-1}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Fleetwood Mac}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Fleetwood Mac songs

Category:1979 singles

Category:1979 songs

Category:Songs written by Stevie Nicks

Category:Song recordings produced by Ken Caillat

Category:Song recordings produced by Richard Dashut

Category:Songs about abortion

Category:Songs involved in plagiarism controversies

Category:Warner Records singles