One demo features vocal melody and lyrics in the coda which would later be developed into the stand-alone single "If You Ever Did Believe" in 1997, which Nicks recorded with Sheryl Crow as part of the early sessions for her 2001 Trouble in Shangri-La album.
For a couple of early takes, Nicks played the piano instead, although she moved exclusively to vocals once Christine McVie was more familiar with the song's structure.
Just before and during the final take, Stevie Nicks had wrapped her head (though not mouth) with a black scarf, veiling her senses to tap memories and emotions.
"[5] Slant Magazine critic Barry Walsh described the song as finding Nicks "at her folky (not flaky) best with one of her most poignant character studies".
[6] Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic thought that "Gold Dust Woman" was a "true autobiographical song for Stevie Nicks" that "foreshadowed her substance abuse problems in a poetic and somewhat biting manner.
[8][9] When asked about the song in an interview with Courtney Love for Spin in October 1997, Nicks confirmed that "gold dust" was in fact a metaphor for cocaine.
[10]In an interview for VH1's Classic Albums, Nicks offered further insight into the song's meaning: "Gold Dust Woman" was my kind of symbolic look at somebody going through a bad relationship, doing a lot of drugs, and trying to make it.
A cover version by the American alternative rock band Hole was released on Geffen Records on 11 June 1996[13] as their ninth CD single.