On this day 27 years ago, Fleetwood Mac performed live at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. A gem that we received from that live show is a recording of “Silver Springs,” written by Stevie Nicks about her breakup with Lindsey Buckingham. The song never made it onto Rumours, as Mick Fleetwood and Buckingham decided to cut it in favor of “I Don’t Want To Know.”
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The breakup—which occurred in 1976, the year before Rumours came out—was still a raw wound for Nicks, and “Silver Springs” was “probably the best song I’ve ever written,” she told People in 2023. Buckingham should have been shaking in his boots about that song. Instead of confronting it, he and Fleetwood swept it under the rug.
“Silver Springs” was banished to the B-Side of “Go Your Own Way,” which was Buckingham’s response to the breakup. The final nail in the coffin of Rumours—it was a great artistic choice to pair the two breakup songs together, but, as Nicks put it, her “strong woman stance did not really make a difference in that situation at all.”
Nicks left the band in 1990 over a fight with Fleetwood about the rights to “Silver Springs,” but the Rumours lineup—Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, and John McVie—returned in 1997 for the live album The Dance. “Silver Springs” emerged from the shadows of Rumours with a vengeance, as Stevie Nicks got the chance to not only showcase her breakup song, but make her ex play lead guitar on it.
Stevie Nicks Stared a Hole Through Lindsey Buckingham While Singing “Silver Springs”
This brings us to the Burbank live show. It’s 1997, Stevie Nicks takes center stage, and “Silver Springs” begins with lilting piano played by Christine McVie. You could be my silver spring / Blue-green colors flashing / I would be your only dream / Your shining Autumn ocean crashing, Nicks begins.
About halfway through the performance, Nicks briefly turns to Buckingham, giving him the sharpest glare anyone has ever seen—or as one X user described it, “burned a hole” into him. The emotion comes through for Nicks, but when Buckingham takes over the guitar solo, it almost feels as if he’s trying to perform with the least amount of feeling possible. Can you blame the guy, playing lead guitar and singing backup on a song his ex wrote about him?
Following the solo, Nicks leans into the lines, Time cast a spell on you, but you won’t forget me / I know I could’ve loved you, but you would not let me. It’s when she continues the chorus that she begins to stare a hole into Lindsey Buckingham, singing, I’ll follow you down ’til the sound of my voice will haunt you / Give me just a chance / You’ll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you.
Buckingham stares right back, for his part, but he looks visibly uncomfortable as he’s met with Nicks’ intensity. One thing to say about Stevie Nicks is she knows how to make a man nervous. Let’s all take a moment to commemorate one of the greatest live performances in the history of music. Thank you, Stevie Nicks, for giving us this gem of a song.
Featured Image via YouTube/Fleetwood Mac
