Stevie Nicks’s career has spanned over 50 years, and the release of her new single, Your Hand I Will Never Let It Go, proves that it’s not over yet. The ballad, written by Thomas Bartlett and Ryan Miller, is featured in Book of Henry, a drama film that was released in theatres on June 16.
The film, which was produced by crime novelist Gregg A. Hurwitz and director/screenwriter Colin T. Trevorrow, tells the story of 11-year-old Henry Carpenter, a boy genius who realizes that his next-door neighbor Christina is being abused by her stepfather, Glenn. Henry reports the abuse to social services and to the principal of the school that he and Christina attend, but because Glenn is the town’s police commissioner, he has connections in the local government that make Principal Wilder, played by All My Children star Tonya Pinkins, hesitant to allege abuse, even if she believes Henry.
Knowing that he has to help, Henry writes detailed plans to save Christina in a notebook. Before he can enact any of them, though, Henry has a violent seizure and is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Before he dies, he tells his brother Peter to give the notebook of his plans to their mother, Susan, played by Naomi Watts. Henry’s plans encourage Susan to get Christina out of the abusive situation, and when Glenn eventually commits suicide in response to the abuse allegations Susan brings against him, Susan legally adopts Christina. Nicks’s song captures Susan’s grief and hope.
“Before you I thought I’d lost,” Nicks sings. “They called the game, but not for us / Drowned in thought and caught in a stare / Talking to ghosts who were not there / Then you took my hand / Transformation began / Commotion where it once was still. “
Your Hand I will Never Let It Go is Nicks’s first solo song since 2014, when she released her eighth solo album, entitled 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault, which consisted mainly of new versions of songs released as demos between 1969 and 1987, when Nicks was best known as the front-woman of British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. Her new song also comes after the release of a new album by former Fleetwood Mac members Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie, which featured contributions from several former Fleetwood Mac members, excluding Stevie Nicks. Nicks does, however, continue to tour with Fleetwood Mac.
Her unhurried, almost churchy ballad was recorded specially for The Book of Henry and was first released June 13 as a lyric video to help promote the film. The song was written and produced by Ryan Miller and Thomas Bartlett, who are both members of the American alternative rock band Guster.
“Stevie Nicks sang a song I wrote and it has been one of the greatest experiences of my life,” Miller wrote on Facebook in all capital letters. “What an honor and joy and profound adventure. Team Stevie till the end of time.”
Photo Credit: Stevie Nick’s Offical Website