This Fleetwood Mac Hit From 1982 Was Inspired by Christine McVie’s Relationship With a Beach Boy

It’s no secret that Christine McVie has contributed some of Fleetwood Mac’s best songs to their catalog. “Little Lies”, “Everywhere” and “Hold Me” are all products of her handiwork, just to name a few. What you might not know, however, is that one of these tunes owes its inspiration to a certain Beach Boy. That would be Dennis Wilson, the brother of Brian and Carl Wilson, whom McVie dated from 1979 to 1982.

“Hold Me”, which McVie first presented as an unfinished song to Fleetwood Mac, describes a relationship that seems temporary. In his autobiography, Mick Fleetwood said Wilson was the muse for the track. When McVie showed it to the group, they were working on the Mirage record.

“There’s nobody in the future / So, baby, let me hand you my love / Oh, no step for you to dance to / So slip your hand inside my glove.“

“Chris’ songs, especially ‘Hold Me’, reflected her bittersweet reflections on her relationship with Dennis Wilson, which had almost resulted in marriage but had ended instead the previous December, when Dennis had moved out of Chris’ house and her life,” Fleetwood shared.

McVie’s Relationship With Wilson Was an “Exhausting Episode”

McVie might’ve taken inspiration from her relationship with Wilson, but that didn’t mean that the pair were a perfect match.

According to Fleetwood, he introduced the two creatives, so he felt somewhat responsible for how their relationship turned out. Wilson had substance abuse problems, and it seems like McVie got tired of trying to keep him afloat. Fleetwood had friendships with both parties, so he wasn’t sure that it was his place to intervene.

“I watched in trepidation as Chris almost went mad trying to keep up with Dennis,” Fleetwood wrote. “I was very torn, because Dennis was a friend…”

In an interview, McVie even describes herself as Wilson’s “mother” in their relationship.

“I loved him for a while … I think I mothered him, to be honest,” she shared. “He used to go off and I wouldn’t see him for days and days, and then he’d come back and I’d mother him and get him all nice and sober and then he’d go off and go crazy again. It’s one of those things. Opposites attract.”

In 1983, not long after his split from McVie, Wilson passed away from drowning at the age of 39. McVie found out via a phone call from her secretary.

“Christine had loved Dennis with all her heart (we all did), and he was a fascinating if exhausting episode in her life,” Fleetwood noted in his autobiography.

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