The Argument That Proved Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham Couldn’t Be Writing Partners: “Would You Say That to Bob Dylan?”

Before joining Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were musical partners. Even after joining the iconic rock band’s ranks, the pair continued to be collaborators, capitalizing on their intimate relationship. But, like most of the relationships in the band, Nicks and Buckingham’s went south. As did their professional partnership. There was one argument in particular that Nicks remembers being the final straw. Learn more about that argument below.

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“And That’s Why Lindsey and I Don’t Write Songs Together”

No one writes a song like Nicks. Her lyricism is all her own, unreplacable, and hard to pin down. It’s pure magic. While that has been a source of celebration amongst her fans, Buckingham reportedly found it adverse to the “rules” of songwriting.

Nicks once detailed a particular fight in which Buckingham corrected her for switching between perspectives in a song. She turned right around and chastised him back, asking if he would say any of his complaints to his male colleagues.

“Every once in a while, Lindsey will say, ‘You’re writing in the third person and then all of a sudden you flip back into first person, and you can’t really do that,’” Nicks once recalled. “And I’m like, ‘Would you say that to Bob Dylan?’ I snap back at him. And that’s why Lindsey and I don’t write songs together. He’ll say, ‘No, well I guess, no.’ So that ends that conversation right there.”

Songs Nicks and Buckingham Wrote About Each Other

The messiest part of Fleetwood Mac’s tenure is the fact that every band member had to sing a song about someone they were romantically involved with at some point. Nicks and Buckingham, especially so.

The pair has written and performed numerous songs about each other. From the spell-like “Silver Springs” to the cathartic “Go Your Own Way,” many of Fleetwood Mac’s greatest hits were not-so-secret jabs from Nicks to Buckingham, and vice versa.

[RELATED: Stevie Nicks Once Called Fleetwood Mac a “Scandalous” and “Incestuous” Soap Opera]

Few groups have as chaotic a history as Fleetwood Mac. But, as a silver lining, the challenging emotions they were dealing with behind the scenes proved to be a powerful tool, earning them many timeless tracks.

Revisit one of Nicks’ most powerful songs about Buckingham, “Silver Springs,” below.

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)