Fleetwood Mac wrote some of the most renowned songs in music history, from the glittering ‘Everywhere‘ to the sweeping ‘The Chain‘. But their music was not all guitars and soft rock. Inspired by the grief the band members caused one another, they wrote their fair share of tearjerkers. Probably most notably in 1977’s ‘Songbird‘.
Amidst lyrical jabs at one another’s love lives given over pop-rock soundscapes, Christine McVie graced Rumours with a sorrowful piano track. Even John McVie once thought it could make grown men cry. In only half an hour of composition time, McVie wrote terrible lines such as, “And I wish you all the love in the world. But most of all, I wish it from myself.”
Over four decades later, the magnificent song continues to drive listeners to tears, laced with unimaginable emotion. While McVie made others cry with Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles often moved her to tears.
During an interview with Rolling Stone, McVie expressed her admiration for some of Fleetwood Mac’s colleagues and predecessors, including cult favorites Steely Dan, pop pioneers the Beach Boys, and supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, but she named the Fab Four her favorite band, “of course”.
“Some of their songs move me to tears,” she said at the time. The band has had this effect on countless others. The Beatles were more than capable of drawing listeners to tears with lovely melodies and profound lyrics. From the lyrical longings of ‘Yesterday‘ to the sad ‘Blackbird‘. McVie was no exception.
Though they remain the biggest band of all time due to their massive impact on the music industry and contributions to production. They still maintain that place. This is largely due to the raw emotion in their songs. Decades after Beatlemania’s peak, their music continues to stir people to tears as well as dancefloors.
On an edition of BBC’s Desert Island Discs, Christine McVie chose their cover of Chuck Berry’s ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ from With the Beatles. It was her favorite Beatles song. She discovered it when she was around 19 or 20, and recalls playing the record “until there was nothing left of it.”
“It was all about the tunes, lyrics, and harmonies,” she said. “The voices were so upfront and crystal clear. I think their utilization of space was quite important.” Though McVie enjoyed their melodic sorrow, her favorite track is undoubtedly a toe-tapper rather than a tear-jerker.
Revisit ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ below.
