Watch: Stevie Nicks' New Single Calls on Civil Rights Heroes to 'Show Them the Way'

The first single from Stevie Nicks in six years takes the form of a prayer that references great civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis, and beseeches higher powers to "Show Them the Way," reports Pitchfork.

Nicks has released two versions of the song - an acoustic piano version, and a fully accompanied version that features Dave Stewart and Dave Grohl - notes Rolling Stone.

Nicks told Rolling Stone that she wrote the song in 2008 after having a vivid dream about preparing to perform a benefit concert. When she woke up, Nicks said, she wrote down the dream's events; later on, she turned her notes into song lyrics.

Nicks disclosed that she had the dream after watching documentaries about historical figures who led the civil rights struggle. Those same people appeared in the dream, including King. But the most compelling figure in the dream appeared at the end, as she does in the song: The spirit of Nicks' mother, who, Rolling Stone recalled, "worked at a prisoner of war base outside of Phoenix."

That spirit had a message for Nicks: "Don't forget what we were fighting for."

That line features prominently in the new song, and the video displays black and white images from the civil rights struggle, including many photos of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and King. The video ends with a portrait of Nicks, and then the word "Vote."

The song might seem like it would have been a natural fit for Nicks' album "In Your Dreams," from 2011, but though she considered it for that album, it didn't make the cut, in part because it didn't fit with the other songs on the album.

But now, Nicks said, the time has come: "I think the world is calling for it right now."

Watch the video for "Show Them the Way" below.