Rumours: A Tribute to Christine McVie
Like many on social media the last few days, I was really sad to hear of the sudden death of Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac. Not only are they one of my favorite bands, but I also think that their masterpiece Rumours (1977) is one of the best albums in the history of rock and roll. I feel that the best way to honor the accolades of songwriters and musicians is to eulogize them with their work. So that is what I am going to do.
Over the past week, I have listened to Rumours several times, and every time I marvel at how great the record is. Lyrically, musically, and contextually, this album is perfect in every sense of the word. The history of the record, one that was written while the major couples’ relationships were ending (Nicks and Buckingham, Chrisitine and John), not to mention Fleetwood’s, led to a deeply personal album about break-ups and (drug use…). I think that McVie’s contributions to the album might be the best of the set. But before that, look at the track list of the record (those with asterisks are McVie-penned).
Second Hand News
Dreams
Never Going Back Again
Don’t Stop*
Go Your Own Way
Songbird*
The Chain
You Make Loving Fun*
I Don’t Want to Know
Oh Daddy*
Gold Dust Woman
Usually, on records, there are “skippable” songs, even records that I would consider great. I love REM’s Out of Time but I skip “Shiny Happy People”, I love License to Ill (Beastie Boys) but I skip “Brass Monkey”. I don’t skip gongs on this album. Every song if left alone on any other record would be the standout track for that record. That says something about the craftsmanship, and, by extension, the craftsmen.
However, I want to make this more about Christine McVie, so I will focus on her contributions to the album. She has famously said that “the best songs I have written, I wrote in 10 minutes”. I don’t know if that is true for the songs on this record but if that is the case, consider me impressed. With the fun, tongue-in-cheek, romp of “You Make Loving Fun” written about not-ex-husband John McVie (I can only imagine how it must have been to have to play that song day in and day out), to the sweet ode to the “father” of the group Mick Fleetwood in “Oh Daddy”, it is hard to see these being “10 minute” songs. I wish that I had that ability.
But even with the more somber “Songbird”, which reportedly only took 30 minutes to write, you get a simplicity that is not always the case with Nicks or Buckingham-penned tracks. The triplet “And I love you, I love you, I love you/
Like never before” following the lyrics “And the songbirds are singing/
Like they know the score” indicating the end of a relationship or saying goodbye to a loved one are as haunting as they are beautiful.
“Don’t Stop” her final contribution to the record, one of the singles of the record (and later a campaign theme song for Bill Clinton) is here most optimistic. From the first bars “If you wake up and don't want to smile/ If it takes just a little while/ Open your eyes and look at the day/ You'll see things in a different way”, the song oozes confidence, a confidence that can only exist with someone who has been through hell and back again and has seen the good on the other side. It boggles my mind that this song, along with “The Chain” and “Go Your Own Way”, are all on the same record because their tones are so different, with “The Chain” and “Go Your Own Way” being more pessimistic and hopeless, and “Don’t Stop” to the contrary. As McVie is quoted to say, “I write about unrequited love in a very optimistic way”, I think Rumours is a great example of that.