"He and I were about as compatible as a rat and a boa constrictor"
About this Quote
That’s why the line lands. Nicks frames incompatibility not as a shared failure but as an ecosystem where the rules are stacked. The rat is frantic vulnerability, all nerves and skittering survival. The boa is slow certainty, a calm that’s frightening because it doesn’t have to argue. The subtext hints at a dynamic many listeners recognize: one person constantly adapting, the other tightening the conditions. You can read it as a warning about control, or as a confession about the kind of chaos that feels magnetic until it becomes lethal.
Context matters with Nicks because her public mythology is built on romantic entanglements, artistic partnerships, and the messy overlap of love and work (especially in the Fleetwood Mac orbit). The quote sounds like someone protecting the part of herself that makes the songs: if a relationship threatens her oxygen, it’s not “complicated,” it’s untenable. And she tells you that with one vivid, slightly vicious animal snapshot that feels like a lyric you can’t un-hear.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sarcastic |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Nicks, Stevie. (2026, January 16). He and I were about as compatible as a rat and a boa constrictor. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/he-and-i-were-about-as-compatible-as-a-rat-and-a-134744/
Chicago Style
Nicks, Stevie. "He and I were about as compatible as a rat and a boa constrictor." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/he-and-i-were-about-as-compatible-as-a-rat-and-a-134744/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"He and I were about as compatible as a rat and a boa constrictor." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/he-and-i-were-about-as-compatible-as-a-rat-and-a-134744/. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.






