Christine McVie was never one to chase drama. As Fleetwood Mac’s quiet emotional anchor, her songwriting thrived on subtlety, melody, and emotional honesty rather than grand gestures. That instinct is exactly why one of the band’s most celebrated songs almost didn’t make an impression on her at all.
When McVie first heard “Go Your Own Way,” she wasn’t impressed. In fact, her initial reaction was bluntly dismissive. She later admitted that when Lindsey Buckingham first played the song to the band, her immediate thought was that it sounded boring. At the time, it didn’t strike her as anything particularly special or groundbreaking.
What McVie didn’t yet realize was how much the song would evolve — and how deeply it would resonate once fully formed. As Buckingham refined the arrangement and Fleetwood Mac locked into the rhythm, “Go Your Own Way” transformed from a rough idea into a powerful, emotionally charged anthem. The driving beat, layered harmonies, and raw tension beneath the surface gave the track a force that wasn’t immediately obvious in its early stages.
Part of McVie’s reaction also reflected her musical sensibility. She gravitated toward melodic warmth and emotional clarity, while “Go Your Own Way” was fueled by frustration and conflict, written during the unraveling of Buckingham and Stevie Nicks’ relationship. That emotional volatility wasn’t McVie’s natural language — at least not at first listen.
Ironically, the very qualities that made her skeptical became the song’s greatest strengths. When released in 1977 as part of Rumours, “Go Your Own Way” became Fleetwood Mac’s first major U.S. hit, reaching the Top 10 and cementing the band’s place in rock history. It went on to become one of their most enduring songs, still dominating radio decades later.
McVie’s honesty about her initial reaction highlights something essential about Fleetwood Mac’s creative process. Even within one of the most successful bands of all time, not every classic arrives fully formed — and not every band member immediately sees the magic. Sometimes, it takes time, tension, and trust for a song to reveal its true power.
In the end, McVie’s skepticism didn’t diminish the song’s legacy. If anything, it humanized it. “Go Your Own Way” wasn’t born as a guaranteed classic — it earned that status through evolution, collaboration, and emotional honesty. And that slow transformation is part of what makes it timeless.
