anonymous October 19th, 2006 03:20PM  
I think the song is really about confusion. It's a conflict about growing up
and doing what is right, or just going with your feeling at the moment. In the first
verse - "I took my love, I took it down" - yet on the next line she's talking about
climbing up a mountain. I think the reference in the first verse really is about
self realization, that she took love for granted.. Until at a point she realized
what she had done. She had built herself upon what she thought was right; being stubborn;
until it all crashed down..

The second verse, is after all this, what is love? Is it sacraficing what you believe
for someone else - or standing your ground? Often children are stubborn & fleeting (child
within my heart). Depending on your mood (seasons of your life) you may feel differently..
Whether to cave in to another - or stand your ground.

The chorus - it's easy to understand how this can be interpreted as a woman being afraid
to go out on her own because she's gotten so used to living with this person. But I believe
that the person she built her life around is herself. Note the references to mirrors & reflections
in the verses. She's afraid to lose control - open herself to love.. To open yourself to
love requires compromise, and often sacrafice.. "time make you bolder" - she's not getting any
younger - she realizes it's time to stop being selfish and be giving.

With the last few lines - it's aimed at whoever she's in love with. She's climbed up the mountain
of "everything is gonna be my way.." (selfishness).. Realized the error of her ways - (land slide
brought it down) - and she's ready to love and give.. So she says to him - go ahead and do what i
did if you need.. But remember what I did and what happened...

anonymous February 26th, 2007 06:02PM  
i like this song
the first part of the song relates to compromising love for self gain. Taking down her love is alluding to tying desire to material dreams and ambition and enslaving it as fuel for the climb up the rocky steep slope to "success". Having achieved this, in a moment of what is meant to be triumph she turns to see the view, and is confronted with the icy cold exterior that is symbolic of a frozen heart reflected back at her from snow covered hills which represent the ambition and drive of others who have achieved materially. In this moment of self realisation at what she has become, the disturbance is so great a landslide brings this mask tumbling down. The need for true love and acceptance on a personal level seemingly overpowering the escapist need for fame and fortune which proves to be cold and lonely.
This brings her to place of now asking the mirror in the sky what is love as opposed to the cold lifeless reflections of attainment in the world. Feeling newly born she recognises this inner child has led her to hide her fears in a drive for success and wonders if she can rise above this . She then questions whether she can move to a place of maturity in the world where presumably what she desires truly is.
Then comes the chorus, the fear of changing which has been precipitated by an internal collapse of the world as she knew it and the persona she had adopted "built my life around you" . But there comes the hope, almost childlike, of children getting bolder and older with the resulting strength to effect change and the reference to herself in her childlike state, getting older too. So you see, this is a very hopeful and powerful song. It references underworld awakenings and deep tribal imagery and , best of all, it is like a small boat on a deep ocean that floats beautifully on the surface, but is held aloft by the immensity of the deep:)
enjoy

anonymous April 18th, 2008 01:04PM  
Obviously no one is a fan, or you would know what this song is truly about. If you will watch the performance of it on their DVD Live In Boston, Stevie will explain this song's history. basically, she wrote this about her unraveling future and how she was so unsure of her and Lindsey's future

macfan June 12th, 2008 10:24PM  
Stevie wrote this song in Aspen Colorado in 1974. She had gone up there to stay at the cabin of a friend while Lindsey was on tour with Don Everly. At this point, their album had flopped and Stevie's father had given her a 6 month limit on the "music thing", if it didn't work out, he wanted she and Lindsey to come home and he would pay for her to finish college. The Lindsey came off the road to the house in Aspen, and as Stevie tells it, he didn't make nearly as much money on that tour as they thought he would, they had a huge fight (I can't remember but I think she may have told Lindsey about the 6 month thing and he flipped), he left to go home, took the car and the dog and she stayed at the cabin. Then she wrote Landslide mainly about the confusion of what she should do. She was very much in love but was unsure if they could make it in the music business.

In 2003, she dedicated Landslide to Lindsey, saying he was the one who taught her to play the guitar she used to write the song, he inspired the song and the song was about him.

anonymous October 14th, 2008 06:33AM  
To me, it's about my parents getting divorced.

after falling pregnant with me, they got married. They had two more children (my brothers). There were plenty of rough times, but plenty of good times too.

36 years later, after climbing the mountain that is her life, our lives, mum turned around to see her reflection she didn't like what she saw. afraid of what was ahead. She wants her own life. She has built her life around dad and us. we are older now, grown up with our own families. In mums words she has to have a life before she dies. She has spent many years afraid of this change, afraid to ask for divorce. can she make it without him? can she survive the remaining seasons of her life without him? she has to find out or she will die with regret.

the divorce is the landslide, as the future that they had planned, that we all thought they would have, is coming crashing down. She took the love she had for him and took it down.

ive heard this song many times before, but it has never had the meaning it does for me tonight. It never made me cry like it does now.

anonymous November 30th, 2008 12:54AM  
Wow...this is my very favorite song...it feels good to be able to post my personal (and humble!) interpretation. I agree wholeheartedly with the above post; it symbolizes one's realization that "time makes you bolder; children get older". It's finally time to look in the mirror and decide who you are, and where you want to be at this stage of your life. It's about finding the courage to make changes, and leave behind a love that may not be giving you what you need. Every time I hear this song, I get a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye...initially because I knew I needed to stop being complacent and move on with my life, and later with joy in my heart at having found the courage to do so.

anonymous November 30th, 2008 10:39AM  
I've been with my husband for 22 years. My daughter just left for college and this song is really resonating with me. I really think it's about evaluating your life "mirror in the sky what is love?" and separating out what you need past your partner and kids needs "can the child within my heart rise above" and realizing that there are choices to make as your life is changing "can I sail through the changing ocean tides? Can I handle the seasons of my life?" The final part is very clear: "I've been afraid of changing because I built my life around you. But time makes you bolder even children get older and I'm getting older, too". This song used to make me think about my mother, but now, sadly, it's about me.

sylvia March 29th, 2009 11:53PM  
i think songs have different meanings for different people, but for me i first heard this song, i mean truly heard it after locking myself in a bathroom after getting in a fight with my dad. I cried so hard i thought it had a lot to do with my relationship with him. Can the child within my heart rise above Can I sail thru the changing ocean tides Can I handle the seasons of my life Well, Ive been afraid of changing cause Ive built my life around you But time makes you bolder Children get older Im getting older too. im so much like my dad and i know he trys to live part of his life through me. but i wanna find myself, but im afraid of hurting him. i lack confidence not knowing if doing what i want on my own is what is right for me. and to me this is what the song is about, but like i said million other interpretations for a million other people, everyone is different.

anonymous October 28th, 2009 02:02PM  
what's great about this song, and all other songs like it, is that it's theme is transcendent and ever-changing. to label the song with just one meaning is grossly inaccurate. stevie obviously crafted the lyrics to apply to many situations.