Forging The Chain
April 6, 2018 9:34 AM Subscribe
How Fleetwood Mac Wrote "The Chain". By YouTube channel Polyphonic (previously on the blue).
The song was the first cut on side two of Rumours, Fleetwood Mac's colossal hit album from 1977, and is the only song credited to all five band members. The video details how the song is spliced together out of riffs from other songs, and how that symbolizes the group's unity in the face of multiple interpersonal differences at the time.
The song was the first cut on side two of Rumours, Fleetwood Mac's colossal hit album from 1977, and is the only song credited to all five band members. The video details how the song is spliced together out of riffs from other songs, and how that symbolizes the group's unity in the face of multiple interpersonal differences at the time.
a resurgence of Dad Music
This is Granddad Rock. Dad Rock is The Pixies, Nirvana, Jane's Addiction, and so on.
posted by thelonius at 10:09 AM on April 6, 2018 [20 favorites]
This is Granddad Rock. Dad Rock is The Pixies, Nirvana, Jane's Addiction, and so on.
posted by thelonius at 10:09 AM on April 6, 2018 [20 favorites]
My stepdad is getting into vinyl like a hipster -- rebuilding turntables and expanding his record collection -- so I bought him a copy of Rumours for his birthday last month. (My mom was going to, but I figured it was better if the cocaine-fueled divorce fest album wasn't a gift from his wife?)
posted by elsietheeel at 10:09 AM on April 6, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by elsietheeel at 10:09 AM on April 6, 2018 [6 favorites]
Nerdwriter also does a tremendous youtube analysis of how Fleetwood Mac Makes A Song I loooove Fleetwood Mac - and their craftsmanship and musical chops still sound remarkably fresh to this "dad" (technically - you need to have children to be a dad - but I am the father to many crackpot ideas and half baked cooking experiments.
posted by helmutdog at 10:13 AM on April 6, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by helmutdog at 10:13 AM on April 6, 2018 [4 favorites]
I'm sixty and yep, this is my era. It's grandpa rock and if you want we'll tell you about how much cocaine the band used in the subsequent tour.
posted by Ber at 10:39 AM on April 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Ber at 10:39 AM on April 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
One of the best damn songs that never ever should have worked.
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:05 AM on April 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:05 AM on April 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
Fleetwood Mac had some fantastic fashion going on.
Younger me would be aghast.
posted by bongo_x at 11:58 AM on April 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
Younger me would be aghast.
posted by bongo_x at 11:58 AM on April 6, 2018 [2 favorites]
Rumors was released when I was in junior high, but I wasn't particularly a Fleetwood Mac fan in high school -- they were pop radio music to me. But just around the time I graduated, I started to listen to Rumors a lot, and it was because of The Chain. I loved and still love the opening. I was a very angsty teen (like almost all teens, but you know) and The Chain spoke to me the way most of their other music hadn't.
I still listen to Rumors semi-regularly. It's a very interesting insight: that the rest of the album is "bright discord" but this track is a "dark and desperate unity".
(Also, that's the strongest Canadian raising /aʊ/ I've heard in a long while.)
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 12:39 PM on April 6, 2018 [4 favorites]
I still listen to Rumors semi-regularly. It's a very interesting insight: that the rest of the album is "bright discord" but this track is a "dark and desperate unity".
(Also, that's the strongest Canadian raising /aʊ/ I've heard in a long while.)
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 12:39 PM on April 6, 2018 [4 favorites]
How Fleetwood Mac Wrote "The Chain"
It seems to have involved lots of recycling of bits of previously written songs (some released, some not) which may strike some as lazy, but to my view is all to the good. A few months ago, I had occasion to record some theme music for a podcast. The podcasters had a rough idea of what they wanted, and so I took my bass and went with a guitarist into the home studio of a keyboard player friend of ours.
The three of us plugged in and noodled for a few minutes; nothing seemed quite right. "Any ideas?" I asked the other two, but no one had any inspiration. I thought for a moment and said, "How about this?" and played a little four-bar figure I had filed away in my head. They thought it was fine, and we built our music off that.
The bit I played was something I had played in short-lived band in late 1990 or early 1991. It never really fit in the original song and the song itself was discarded soon after, but I always like the flow of the piece. I never had occasion to use it until this podcast theme song, though, nearly three decades later.
Although it is not the best bass part I have ever produced, using it was supremely satisfying, like realizing that odd piece of wood or little square of carpet remnant that has been gathering dust in the garage for years is precisely the right thing you need for a project you are working on.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:04 PM on April 6, 2018 [13 favorites]
It seems to have involved lots of recycling of bits of previously written songs (some released, some not) which may strike some as lazy, but to my view is all to the good. A few months ago, I had occasion to record some theme music for a podcast. The podcasters had a rough idea of what they wanted, and so I took my bass and went with a guitarist into the home studio of a keyboard player friend of ours.
The three of us plugged in and noodled for a few minutes; nothing seemed quite right. "Any ideas?" I asked the other two, but no one had any inspiration. I thought for a moment and said, "How about this?" and played a little four-bar figure I had filed away in my head. They thought it was fine, and we built our music off that.
The bit I played was something I had played in short-lived band in late 1990 or early 1991. It never really fit in the original song and the song itself was discarded soon after, but I always like the flow of the piece. I never had occasion to use it until this podcast theme song, though, nearly three decades later.
Although it is not the best bass part I have ever produced, using it was supremely satisfying, like realizing that odd piece of wood or little square of carpet remnant that has been gathering dust in the garage for years is precisely the right thing you need for a project you are working on.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:04 PM on April 6, 2018 [13 favorites]
I'm 36, me and half my friends are musicians, when we were 20 we played stuff like Zeppelin when we were messing around, but there's probably more Fleetwood Mac now when we eventually meet up. We had, until a short while ago, a regular meetup on Wednesdays to play stuff, just for ourselves, and when we decided to record a couple of tunes for posterity, one of them was The Chain.
The thing it I hadn't got when I was young was that their second incarnation was so adult. I when I was learning guitar at 15, I loved songs like Oh Well or Need Your Love So Bad Stuff and loved the guitar parts. Stuff like Dreams though - when I was 20 I heard it and thought it was ok - decent arrangement, tight dead 70's production. I remember my uncle saying it was one of the great songs (around 20 years ago the Corrs did a cover that was big in Ireland for a while). Some point around 30 I heard it somewhere random and suddenly the lyrics were a big deal:
posted by kersplunk at 2:14 PM on April 6, 2018 [10 favorites]
The thing it I hadn't got when I was young was that their second incarnation was so adult. I when I was learning guitar at 15, I loved songs like Oh Well or Need Your Love So Bad Stuff and loved the guitar parts. Stuff like Dreams though - when I was 20 I heard it and thought it was ok - decent arrangement, tight dead 70's production. I remember my uncle saying it was one of the great songs (around 20 years ago the Corrs did a cover that was big in Ireland for a while). Some point around 30 I heard it somewhere random and suddenly the lyrics were a big deal:
Now here you go again, you say you want your freedomand it knocked me on my arse.
Well, who am I to keep you down?
It's only right that you should play the way you feel it
But listen carefully to the sound of your loneliness
Like a heartbeat drives you mad
In the stillness of remembering of what you had
And what you lost and what you had and what you lost
posted by kersplunk at 2:14 PM on April 6, 2018 [10 favorites]
The Chain is used very effectively in Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
And ongoing for F1.
posted by eyeofthetiger at 4:49 PM on April 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
And ongoing for F1.
posted by eyeofthetiger at 4:49 PM on April 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
And yes, that’s a pair of balls on the cover that Mick ripped out of an English loo.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:49 PM on April 6, 2018
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:49 PM on April 6, 2018
My first grandchild is 2 weeks old & I love the shit out of this song. The live version on The Dance is also fantastic.
My age aside, here’s the deal: Fleetwood Mac were all A-list musicians who could play their instruments & were adepts at their craft.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:39 PM on April 6, 2018 [4 favorites]
My age aside, here’s the deal: Fleetwood Mac were all A-list musicians who could play their instruments & were adepts at their craft.
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:39 PM on April 6, 2018 [4 favorites]
A-list musicians who could play their instruments & were adepts at their craft.
Those are great things, but what they had transcends technique. The guys from the Letterman show band were A-list musicians, but no one is going to be listening to Paul Schaeffer albums in 2040.
posted by thelonius at 10:33 PM on April 6, 2018 [5 favorites]
Those are great things, but what they had transcends technique. The guys from the Letterman show band were A-list musicians, but no one is going to be listening to Paul Schaeffer albums in 2040.
posted by thelonius at 10:33 PM on April 6, 2018 [5 favorites]
Agreed, which is why I added the second half of that sentence. I should have said the craft of songwriting specifically & considered abusing the edit button. Also, Buckinham & Nicks, despite her peculiar warble, are both exceptional vocalists, while Christine McVie is merely a very good vocalist. The 3-part harmonies on The Chain were, of course, sung without the use of AutoTune.
I could go on about Buckingham’s guitar style- he’s one of a very few who plays the electric without a pick, & I’d rank him in the top 20 list or rock players any old time, partly because of his amazing taste. The man pretty much never wastes a note. The solo at the end of The Chain is both economical & concise, yet masterfully emotive. His solo acoustic version of Big Love from The Dance still rips my head off every time I hear it.
The tastefulness of the namesake rhythm section had been on full display for a good member of years already, & should hardly require repeating. I aspire to be as sparing, yet effective as John McVie. I sat with the headphones a few weeks ago & worked out the bass part to Rhiannon & pretty well had my mind blown by how precisely crafted it is.
posted by Devils Rancher at 2:13 AM on April 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
I could go on about Buckingham’s guitar style- he’s one of a very few who plays the electric without a pick, & I’d rank him in the top 20 list or rock players any old time, partly because of his amazing taste. The man pretty much never wastes a note. The solo at the end of The Chain is both economical & concise, yet masterfully emotive. His solo acoustic version of Big Love from The Dance still rips my head off every time I hear it.
The tastefulness of the namesake rhythm section had been on full display for a good member of years already, & should hardly require repeating. I aspire to be as sparing, yet effective as John McVie. I sat with the headphones a few weeks ago & worked out the bass part to Rhiannon & pretty well had my mind blown by how precisely crafted it is.
posted by Devils Rancher at 2:13 AM on April 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
That. is a great bass part indeed
posted by thelonius at 3:01 AM on April 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 3:01 AM on April 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
This is just a theory I have...but I think that the interpersonal mischegas the band had going on also contributes to that song.
I've listened to a couple covers from Florence and the Machine, and Harry Styles - and they're technically perfect, faithful covers. But they're...missing something. The bass doesn't sound quite as menacing, the vocals sound too pretty. And I'm starting to think that what also contributed to this recording, and to Fleetwood Mac doing it live, is that they went through all that interpersonal pain; small corners of Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were pissed off at each other when they sang "Damn your love, damn your lies." John's bass was so menacing because he was pissed at Christine.
Even today - years later - when they do it live, you can still hear it; they've forgiven each other and life has gone on, but this probably reminds them of some of those feelings of "wow, this stuff we did to each other really hurt and that makes me angry". In the concert film "The Dance", you can see that Stevie is still looking right at Lindsay when she's singing the chorus.
Not that people who haven't had breakups with band members can't do this song. But I think that tapping into some kind of anger helps, you know?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:04 AM on April 7, 2018 [7 favorites]
I've listened to a couple covers from Florence and the Machine, and Harry Styles - and they're technically perfect, faithful covers. But they're...missing something. The bass doesn't sound quite as menacing, the vocals sound too pretty. And I'm starting to think that what also contributed to this recording, and to Fleetwood Mac doing it live, is that they went through all that interpersonal pain; small corners of Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were pissed off at each other when they sang "Damn your love, damn your lies." John's bass was so menacing because he was pissed at Christine.
Even today - years later - when they do it live, you can still hear it; they've forgiven each other and life has gone on, but this probably reminds them of some of those feelings of "wow, this stuff we did to each other really hurt and that makes me angry". In the concert film "The Dance", you can see that Stevie is still looking right at Lindsay when she's singing the chorus.
Not that people who haven't had breakups with band members can't do this song. But I think that tapping into some kind of anger helps, you know?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:04 AM on April 7, 2018 [7 favorites]
Yeah, I posted a song to Music here several years ago that was written & performed while the singer & I were mid-breakup, & abstractly, that’s what it was about, & you can hear the tension. I think it drove us to a creative place we would not have been otherwise.
posted by Devils Rancher at 3:31 PM on April 7, 2018
posted by Devils Rancher at 3:31 PM on April 7, 2018
EmpressCallipygos, the Fleetwood Mac song that most reminds me of "The Chain" is "Tusk". It's the title cut off the album immediately after Rumours, and here are the lyrics:
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:19 PM on April 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
Why don't you ask him if he's going to stay?Talk about tapping into some kind of anger.
Why don't you ask him if he's going away?
Why don't you tell me what's going on?
Why don't you tell me who's on the phone?
Why don't you ask him what's going on?
Why don't you ask him who's the latest on his throne?
Don't say that you love me!
Just tell me that you want me!
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:19 PM on April 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
Fleetwood Mac has fired Lindsey Buckingham after a disagreement over the band's upcoming tour, Rolling Stone has confirmed. The band announced Monday that Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Neil Finn of Crowded House will replace him.
posted by elsietheeel at 6:12 AM on April 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by elsietheeel at 6:12 AM on April 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
In a lovely piece of synchronicity, I ate at the wonderful Tusk restaurant in Portland last weekend. Unsure what more-or-less-Mediterranean food has to do with the Mac, but accept that they, like the Chain, keep everything together. I've had Fleetwood Mac on the brain since then, so was glad to see this post.
In follow up to elsietheeel's news: Rolling Stone did a history of Fleetwood Mac firings and "departures"
posted by assenav at 11:16 PM on April 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
In follow up to elsietheeel's news: Rolling Stone did a history of Fleetwood Mac firings and "departures"
posted by assenav at 11:16 PM on April 10, 2018 [2 favorites]
Is this PEAK DAD ROCK?
It won't be peak (Grand)Dad Rock till the wheel turns full circle and Steely Dan becomes cool again.
posted by blucevalo at 8:04 AM on April 11, 2018
It won't be peak (Grand)Dad Rock till the wheel turns full circle and Steely Dan becomes cool again.
posted by blucevalo at 8:04 AM on April 11, 2018
It won't be peak (Grand)Dad Rock till the wheel turns full circle and Steely Dan becomes cool again.
You say that as if they ever weren't cool.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:10 AM on April 11, 2018 [3 favorites]
You say that as if they ever weren't cool.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:10 AM on April 11, 2018 [3 favorites]
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