| "Angel" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byFleetwood Mac | ||||
| from the albumTusk | ||||
| B-side | "Sisters of the Moon" | |||
| Released | 1980 | |||
| Recorded | April–August 1979 | |||
| Studio | The Village Recorder, Los Angeles, California | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 4:54 | |||
| Label | Reprise | |||
| Songwriter | Stevie Nicks | |||
| Producers | Fleetwood Mac, Richard Dashut and Ken Caillat | |||
| Fleetwood Mac singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Angel" is a song written by singer-songwriterStevie Nicks of the British-American band Fleetwood Mac. It first appeared on the band's 1979 double albumTusk and was released as a single in the Netherlands the following year.
The song was performed on Fleetwood Mac's 1979-1980Tusk Tour and has since been issued on a few of the band's deluxe editions, starting with the 2015 super deluxe edition ofTusk, which included a live recording from their performance inSt. Louis on 5 November 1979.[1] A 5 May 1980 live recording from theRichfield Coliseum inOhio was included on the deluxe edition of theirLive album.[2] In 2025, Nicks included "Angel" in the setlist for her show inPortland, Oregon, which marked the first time the song was performed live since 1983.[3]
A different Fleetwood Mac song with the same name was written byBob Welch and included on the band'sHeroes are Hard to Find album in 1974. In the liner notes for Welch'sGreatest Hits & More – Revisited, he said that the lyrics were about "want[ing] to see an angel" and "understanding whether the angel is a human being".[4]
Nicks wrote "Angel" aboutMick Fleetwood, with particular focus on his fashion choices. "It's about his crazy fob watch and his really beautiful clothes. He's a very stylish individual and I was just this little California girl who never really knew anybody like him."[5] She said in a 1980 documentary on the making ofTusk that "Angel" was her first attempt at writing a "silly" rock n roll song and later identified an "eeriness" to the composition that she initially overlooked.[6]
Hernan Rojas, who served as an engineer forTusk, described the lyrics as incorporating aspects ofOvid'sMetamorphosis, the stories ofMabinogion,Gothic fiction, and personal diary entries.[7] Nicks said that the "charmed hour" lyric referred to "the best hour", which also tied intothe three birds of Rhiannon. While writing the song, she also gravitated toward a figure inWelsh mythology namedArawn, partially because several of her family members were named Aaron. She said that the lyric 'So I close my eyes softly/Till I become that part of the wind' related to some of Arawn's powers as the king of the underworld.[8] In a 1981 interview with Blair Jackson ofBAM magazine, Nicks identified "Angel" as one of her favorite compositions onTusk.[9]
"Angel" was a late addition toTusk, with initial tracking taking place on 1 April 1979. Take six was selected as the master and overdubbing continued into the month of August. A decision was made to increase the tempo of the song after a few passes, which according to Rojas, allowed for the rhythm section to become more lively. The structure of "Angel" consisted of a verse, bridge, two pre choruses, and two choruses. Rojas said that the song relied on a "powerful groove and dynamic lyrics" to accompany the song'schord progression.[7]
The song was set in4/4 time, withMick Fleetwood playing aTama drum kit withAKGoverhead microphones, an AKG 451 on the bottom resonanthead of asnare drum, and a D12 on the kick drum.John McVie's bass guitar was connected directly into aNevemixing console andChristine McVie played aYamaha electric piano in anisolation room that the band dubbed the "Hawaiian room", which received that name due to the Hawaiianlava rocks that decorated the space.Lindsey Buckingham played aFender Stratocaster through aMarshall stack placed in a different isolation room.[7]
A recording session in May was filmed by a crew led by Randall Hagadorn, and compiled footage for aTusk documentary released in 1980. During this session, Buckingham recorded various lead guitar licks and a solo during the song'svamp.[7] Nicks and Buckingham also worked on vocal harmonies around a grand piano with the intention of singing the song as a duet.[6][7] Buckingham instead settled on singing his vocals in tandem with Nicks for only certain lyrics. His vocals also supplanted a few lines recorded by Nicks, who recorded some of her lead vocals while dancing inplatform shoes and pinkleg warmers.[7]
Stephen Holden called the song "an especially risky flirtation with hard rock" in hisRolling Stone review forTusk.[10] In his bookGold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks,Stephen Davis characterised Nicks' vocals on "Angel" as "strong, passionate, and more mature than the voice onRumours.[11] Terry Jordan of theSt. Joseph News-Press discussed "Angel" in their review of the band's 1980 performance inKansas City, saying that the song was "bright" and "bouncy" and "outshined" all of Buckingham's material onstage.[12]
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