'People just want it to end': Stevie Nicks get political

Two months ago, she realised now was the time to release the song, which she wrote with Greg Kurstin, who also produced and mixed it. The power of the track reminds her of Edge of Seventeen, from her solo album Bella Donna, released in 1981.

"What’s going on in this country is very, very divisive," she says. "I’ve been worried about the whole civil rights thing since forever; I lived through it. I was young but I remember it. What’s happened now is I feel like we’ve gone back. We’ve slid back down the ice mountain to what it was like then. All that work since the '60s has just disappeared from four years ago. It’s very frightening here, it’s very scary. You’re frightened to say anything; people might literally come after you."

"People just want it to end. Can't we just get along? That’s what the song is really saying, can we join hands and get back on track."

Dave Grohl plays drums and Dave Stewart, formerly of the Eurythmics, plays guitar on the rock'n'roll version of the track, while Greg Kurstin plays piano on a second, pared-back version. A video directed by Cameron Crowe features black-and-white footage of Martin Luther King and John F Kennedy.

While for the first few months of the pandemic, she was "really just numb", watching loads of television. In May, she flew to Chicago to edit the film. Once there, it was straight to work. "I didn’t remember how much work it was putting together a whole concert film. They say God is in the details? Boy, there were a lot of details."

Stevie Nicks 24 Karat Gold Tour is a film based on two shows from her 2016-17 67 city tour and is set for release in two weeks. From her "all-time favourite tour", it documents live shows in Pennsylvania and Chicago, played to full houses.

It's ideal timing as audiences crave a fix of live music — this is about as close as it gets at the moment. Seeing thousands of people together in the show is like a glimpse into a reality it's difficult to imagine happening at any time soon. "Hopefully that's what this would be - a momentary step back into real life," she says.

In the film, she speaks of going to her "dark, Gothic trunk" of songs she'd written but not released. She tells audiences about the genesis of many of songs, including Gypsy and Rhiannon. Interweaving her hits and their back stories with eight new tracks made audiences more receptive to new material. "The kids really loved hearing the stories and that’s what made it possible to do the new songs."

She recalls how quickly life changed when Fleetwood Mac formed, going from earning $200 a week in the early days, which soon went up to $800 a week. There's a twinge of regret expressed in Belle Fleur, which she wrote about the strange reality of going from driving a beaten-up old Toyota with no reverse gear to being chauffeur driven in a shiny black limousine.

Later in the show, she tells of her desire to work with Tom Petty, an idea rebuffed by her manager, only to have Petty invite her to sing Stop Dragging My Heart Around with him. It went on to become a massive hit.

While super-keen to tour again, 72-year-old Nicks says word on the street in LA is it will be at least two years before it will be possible to perform in a big stadium venue such as Rod Laver Arena.

Of the viral TikTok video by Nathan Apodaca, she is delighted. "It's just the funniest thing ... it's so sweet". Apodaca's clip has spawned many copycat videos, including one by Mick Fleetwood himself. Another has Dr Phil of Oprah fame riding on his golf buggy singing along, rollerskaters dreamily singing along, as well as countless others.

Nicks says part of the appeal of her — and Fleetwood Mac's — music is that it's timeless. "Maybe it’s because we don’t really write about specific people; we just dance around our subjects so people can relate to what we’re saying. That's made our music really easy to take in and sing along with. Our songs aren’t terribly complicated and just really good, simple musicianship."

"I think our songs went far and wide because they were very understandable and people could put their own spin on our songs; they could put their experience in to our songs. That’s what we wanted ... and it worked."

Stevie Nicks 24 Karat Gold The Concert is in cinemas on October 21 and 25, see www.stevienicksfilm.com. The CD digital/streaming releases is out on October 30.