Primarily a British blues band, Fleetwood Mac scored a UK number one with "Albatross", and had other hits such as the singles "Oh Well" and "Man of the World". All three guitarists left in succession during the early 1970s, to be replaced by guitarists Bob Welch and Bob Weston and vocalist Dave Walker. By 1974, all three of them had either departed or been dismissed, leaving the band without a male lead vocalist or guitarist. In late 1974, while Fleetwood was scouting studios in Los Angeles, he was introduced to American folk-rock duo Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Fleetwood Mac soon asked Buckingham to be their new lead guitarist, and Buckingham agreed on condition that Nicks would also join the band.
The addition of Buckingham and Nicks gave the band a more pop rock sound, and their 1975 self-titled album, Fleetwood Mac, reached No. 1 in the United States. Rumours (1977), Fleetwood Mac's second album after the arrival of Buckingham and Nicks, produced four U.S. Top 10 singles and remained at number one on the American albums chart for 31 weeks. It also reached the top spot in various countries around the world and won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978. Rumours has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums in history. The band went through personal turmoil while recording the album, as both the romantic partnerships in the band (one being John and Christine McVie, and the other being Buckingham and Nicks) separated while continuing to make music together.
The band's personnel remained stable through three more studio albums, but by the late 1980s began to disintegrate. After Buckingham and Nicks each left the band, they were replaced by a number of other guitarists and vocalists. A 1993 one-off performance for the first inauguration of Bill Clinton featured the lineup of Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Nicks, and Buckingham back together for the first time in six years. A full reunion occurred four years later, and the group released their fourth U.S. No. 1 album, The Dance (1997), a live compilation of their hits, also marking the 20th anniversary of Rumours. Christine McVie left the band in 1998, but continued to work with the band in a session capacity. Meanwhile, the group remained together as a four-piece, releasing their most recent studio album, Say You Will, in 2003. Christine McVie rejoined the band full-time in 2014. In 2018, Buckingham was fired from the band and was replaced by Mike Campbell, formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House.
Fleetwood Mac has sold more than 120 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling bands. In 1979, the group was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1998 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.
Danny Kirwan, guitarist, songwriter and early member of Fleetwood Mac (1968–1972) died in London, England, on 8 June 2018, aged 68. An obituary in The New York Times said he had died in his sleep after contracting pneumonia earlier in the year. The British music magazine Mojo quoted Christine McVie as saying: "Danny Kirwan was the white English blues guy. Nobody else could play like him. He was a one-off ... Danny and Peter [Green] gelled so well together. Danny had a very precise, piercing vibrato – a unique sound ... He was a perfectionist; a fantastic musician and a fantastic writer." One of Kirwan's songs, "Tell Me All the Things You Do" from the 1970 album Kiln House, was included in the set of the 2018–19 An Evening with Fleetwood Mac tour.
On 28 May 2020 Neil Finn, featuring Nicks and McVie, with Campbell on guitar, released the song “Find Your Way Back Home” for the Auckland, New Zealand homeless shelter Auckland City Mission.
Founding member Peter Green died on 25 July 2020 at the age of 73. In October 2020, Rumours again entered the Billboard top 10. The album received 30.6 million plays on streaming platforms the week of October 15, after a TikTok video of the song "Dreams" went viral.
On 30 November 2022, it was announced that band member Christine McVie died at the age of 79, after a short illness.
How Blue Can You Get
Fleetwood Mac Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
ever since the day we met
I said I've been down hearted baby
ever since the day we met
our love is nothing but the blues, woman
baby, how blue can you get?
You're evil when I'm with you, baby
I said You're evil when I'm with you, baby
and you're jealous when we're apart
how blue can you get baby
the answer is right here in my heart
I gave you a brand new Ford
But you said: I want a Cadillac
I bought you a ten dollar dinner
and you said: thanks for the snack
I let you live in my pent house
you said it just a shack
I gave seven children
and now you wanna give them back
I said I've been down hearted baby
ever since the day we met
our love is nothing but the blues
baby, how blue can you get?
The song 'How Blue Can You Get' by Fleetwood Mac is a classic blues-influenced song that depicts the pain and heartache of a love that has gone sour. The opening lines of the song, "I've been down-hearted baby, ever since the day we met," set the tone for the rest of the lyrics. The singer is clearly unhappy in the relationship and feels trapped in a cycle of pain and heartbreak. The repetition of the phrase "our love is nothing but the blues, woman, baby how blue can you get?" serves as a lament to the state of the relationship.
The lyrics are also filled with bitterness and resentment towards the woman whom the singer addresses. The lines "You're evil when I'm with you baby, and you're jealous when we're apart" suggest that the relationship is fraught with jealousy and mistrust. The subsequent lines "I gave you a brand new Ford, but you said: I want a Cadillac. I bought you a ten-dollar dinner, and you said: thanks for the snack" serve as a metaphor for the unappreciative and demanding nature of the woman. The singer goes on to state how he let her live in his penthouse, but she called it a shack, and how she now wants to give back the seven children he gave her.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been down hearted baby
Since we met, I've been heartbroken
ever since the day we met
Since the day we met, I've felt this way
I said I've been down hearted baby
I've already told you that I'm heartbroken
our love is nothing but the blues, woman
Our relationship is just filled with sadness and resentment
baby, how blue can you get?
It's hard to imagine anything more sad than what we have
You're evil when I'm with you, baby
When we're together, you bring out the worst in me
and you're jealous when we're apart
Even when we're not together, you're still filled with resentment and jealousy
how blue can you get baby
Just when I think things can't get any worse, they do
the answer is right here in my heart
I already know the answer, because I feel it so strongly
I gave you a brand new Ford
I've given you so much, including material possessions
But you said: I want a Cadillac
But you're always wanting more and never satisfied
I bought you a ten dollar dinner
I've taken you out to eat and spent money on you
and you said: thanks for the snack
But you're unappreciative and dismissive of what I do for you
I let you live in my pent house
I've let you live in my luxurious home
you said it just a shack
But you belittle and demean what I've given you
I gave seven children
I've given you everything, including my children's love and affection
and now you wanna give them back
But you're willing to throw everything away, even our children
Contributed by Penelope B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Henri Hudson
on Tusk
Why don't you ask him if he's going to stay?
Why don't you ask him if he's going away?