Cover Story: Time Flies Yet “Landslide” Never Does
Time and music break down and blend together in Japanese House’s cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” revealing how the song remains classic in every form.
Written by Anjali Krishna
Photos courtesy of NME and Billboard
On her first album with Fleetwood Mac, a then-27-year-old Stevie Nicks already sings about “changing ocean tides” and “seasons of [her] life” on “Landslide.” Nicks’ typical precocity (some say witchiness) shines through, as she seems to somehow know that Fleetwood Mac’s burgeoning stardom would soon grow to the point of collapse.
In the band’s classic “Landslide,” Nicks’ voice sparkles both sweet and gravelly above warm acoustics. Nicks hums as she acknowledges that “[she’s] getting older too.” “Landslide” is an instant classic; timeless for unlocking that very human fear of change.
Japanese House, however, trades Fleetwood Mac’s rustic sound for a sleek modern one in her rendition of “Landslide.” A soft electric guitar backs Amber Marie Bain’s voice, which nearly morphs into the sound of a synth. Bain’s version of “Landslide” belongs in the world of coffee shops and on Spotify lo-fi beats playlists; the rendition is an extension of the original and a sign of Fleetwood Mac’s continuing effect on 21st century artists. In what is arguably one of their best ballads are lyrics that live past a lifetime: “Oh, mirror in the sky / What is love?” Audiences of Japanese House’s indie pop and Fleetwood Mac’s soft rock — generations apart — can resonate with the same themes of looking at yourself and not knowing what you want, looking at yourself and wishing you had all the answers.
Japanese House’s changes in style have meaning. Where Nicks’ voice rises with feeling, Bain’s slips away where a climax should be — an intentional choice that perhaps represents a different era of life. While Nicks crescendos with “cause I’ve been afraid of changing / cause I’ve built my life around you,” Bain levels out at “changing,” almost backing away from Nicks’ intensity. While Nicks made wild and free music with allusions to her dramatic personal life, Bain seems more cautious of the fame (and terror) that befell previous musicians who imbued their lives into music. In sound and feeling, Bain tapers off where Nicks would have let it free as she delivers: “even children get older / And I’m getting older too.”
Lindsay Buckingham’s smooth electric guitar solo was a precursor to the modern sound that Japanese House would envelop “Landslide” in. In a show of technical fingerwork, Buckingham’s electric melody slots seamlessly between the acoustic guitars and Nicks’ vocalizing. Bain, however, allows the melody into the track earlier, and the electric guitar simply grows louder into Buckingham’s solo. This leads Bain into a falsetto at “Oh, mirror in the sky / What is love? / Can the child within my heart rise above?” and again at “I’ve been afraid of changing.” She builds her song around different emphases than Nicks, implying less of the romantic troubles that Buckingham and Nicks were rumored to have around the release of “Landslide.”
Almost as a reflection of the rapidly changing times, Japanese House’s version includes instruments that didn’t exist in Fleetwood Mac’s time. The drum machine and auto-tuned voice of Bain’s song would be alien to the band. New instruments are here for a different kind of story: maybe it’s that overwhelming technological influence present in the track that Bain fears, whereas Nicks shies away from breaking down her not-so-simple life.
Both Nicks and Bain, however, battle with their “reflection in the snow covered hills / Well, the landslide brings it down.” In those universal themes of regretting decisions (“climbed a mountain and I turned around”), Fleetwood Mac rings true to every audience, whether it be in a slick synthetic sound or with their traditional folky twang. Nicks and her fellow bandmates weren’t sure they could handle the changing world. And it was true that the respective Fleetwood Mac couples didn’t last, but their music would stand the test of time. Their music would handle all that they couldn’t, as they find themselves repopularized time and again.
Time could only “make them bolder,” it turned out. The landslide has not yet brought Fleetwood Mac down, it seems, and it doesn’t seem like anything (come new musical technology or artists) will be able to remove their indelible mark on the world of music.