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.
Say You Will
Fleetwood Mac Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That I've never been since
That part of me that was only for you
That kind of romance
Comes only once, that kind of love
That kind of fever dance
That you love because you've become someone else
In an instant
Say you will, say you will give me one more chance
At least give me time to change your mind
That always seems to heal the wounds
If I can get you to dance
Something in you put a hold on my heart
It's hard to believe now
Here is a place that will never be dark
I remember that place
That kind of touch, electricity of love
That certain kind of grace
That you love because you become someone else
In an instant
Say you will, say you will give me one more chance
At least give me time to change your mind
That always seems to heal the wounds
If I can get you to dance
Say you will
Say you will give me one more chance (say you will)
At least give me time to change your mind (say you will)
That always seems to heal the wounds
If I can get you to dance
Say you will
Say you will give me one more chance (say you will)
At least give me time to change your mind (say you will)
That always seems to heal the wounds
If I can get you to dance
Say you will
Say you will give me one more chance (say you will)
At least give me time to change your mind (say you will)
That always seems to heal the wounds
If I can get you to dance
Say you will
Say you will give me one more chance (say you will)
At least give me time to change your mind (say you will)
That always seems to heal the wounds
If I can get you to dance
Say you will
Say you will give me one more chance
At least give me time to change your mind
That always seems to heal the wounds
If I can get you to dance
The lyrics to Fleetwood Mac's "Say You Will" are about the power of love, and the desire for a second chance. The singer expresses how something about their partner brought out a side of them that they've never experienced before - a side that was solely for their partner. This kind of love is described as rare and intense, a fever dance that takes hold of them in an instant.
The chorus repeats the phrase "Say you will, say you will give me one more chance" with the hope that they can change their partner's mind and heal the wounds. There is an acknowledgement that time may be needed to allow for changes to happen, but the singer firmly believes that they can get their partner to dance again and rekindle the love they once had.
Overall, the lyrics express the power and intensity of love, and the desperation to hold onto it, even after it seems to have slipped away.
Line by Line Meaning
Something in you brought out something in me
That I've never been since
You made me feel emotions that I haven't felt before.
That part of me that was only for you
That kind of romance
I gave you a part of my heart that I don't give to anyone else.
Comes only once, that kind of love
That kind of fever dance
That you love because you've become someone else
In an instant
This type of love only happens once in a lifetime and it changes you forever.
Say you will, say you will give me one more chance
At least give me time to change your mind
That always seems to heal the wounds
If I can get you to dance
Please give me another chance to make things right. In my experience, dancing together has always helped us mend our relationship.
Something in you put a hold on my heart
It's hard to believe now
You captured my heart in a way that is hard for me to comprehend now.
Here is a place that will never be dark
I remember that place
There is a place in my heart where our love shone brightly and it will always be remembered.
That kind of touch, electricity of love
That certain kind of grace
That you love because you become someone else
In an instant
Our physical connection was filled with so much passion and it transformed us into different people.
Say you will
Say you will give me one more chance (say you will)
At least give me time to change your mind (say you will)
That always seems to heal the wounds
If I can get you to dance
I keep asking you to give me another chance and I hope that dancing can help us start anew.
Say you will
Say you will give me one more chance (say you will)
At least give me time to change your mind (say you will)
That always seems to heal the wounds
If I can get you to dance
I'm begging you to take a chance on us and I hope that we can find healing through dancing.
Say you will
Say you will give me one more chance (say you will)
At least give me time to change your mind (say you will)
That always seems to heal the wounds
If I can get you to dance
I'll keep asking you to give me another chance and I hope that we can find a way to reconnect through dancing.
Say you will
Say you will give me one more chance (say you will)
At least give me time to change your mind (say you will)
That always seems to heal the wounds
If I can get you to dance
Please say that you will give me one last opportunity to show you how much I love you and maybe dancing can help us overcome our issues.
Say you will
Say you will give me one more chance
At least give me time to change your mind
That always seems to heal the wounds
If I can get you to dance
I'll keep holding onto hope that we can work things out and I believe that dancing together might help us heal our relationship.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Stephanie Nicks
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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?