Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks, in particular, contributed songs, lyrics, and melodies to much of Fleetwood Mac‘s discography. One song, however, claims the creative efforts of all band members. That would be “The Chain”, which appears on 1977’s Rumours.
The track, which was a live staple for the group, apparently began as a Christine McVie composition called “Keep Me There”. The song’s ending, crafted by John McVie and Buckingham, was apparently “the only piece left” of the original by the end.
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“…We didn’t get a vocal and left [“The Chain”] for a long time in a bunch of pieces,” Buckingham told Rolling Stone. “It almost went off the album. Then we listened back and decided we liked the bridge, but didn’t like the rest of the song. So I wrote verses for that bridge, which was originally not in the songs and edited those in. We saved the ending…”
The song was reworked to include lyrics by Nicks and an intro from an earlier Nicks-and-Buckingham duet. Nicks contributed lyrics to much of the song’s iconic chorus.
And if, you don’t love me now, you will never love me again
I can still hear you saying, you would never break the chain
And if, you don’t love me now, you will never love me again
I can still hear you saying, you would never break the chain.
As for drummer Mick Fleetwood, Buckingham had this to say to Paul Zollo: “I can’t honestly say that Mick had anything to do with writing the song. But we did give credit to all members of the band.”
On the title of the song, Buckingham told Rolling Stone: “We ended up calling it ‘The Chain’ because it was a bunch of pieces.”
What Is “The Chain” About?
So, what was the meaning of this song that ended up being a collection of works?
According to Buckingham, the inspiration behind “The Chain” could have been the band, but it could also have been Nicks and Buckingham’s tumultuous relationship.
“For all I know, I think she was talking about me,” Buckingham shared. “Some of those things, I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. [Laughs] As late as ‘Tango’ where I thought maybe that was about me, but there had been so much water under the bridge I don’t know how it could have been. I never asked her much about that stuff.”
To this day, “The Chain” is still one of Fleetwood Mac’s most captivating songs live, and through the speaker. It’s funny that all it really ended up being was just a bunch of different pieces.
Photo by: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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