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.
She's Changing Me
Fleetwood Mac Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is telling me, boy you better beware
Here she comes, and they call her the sweet omega
And you'll come to know the meaning of her stare
'Cause the only road that you'll ever need to ride
Is the one that's rolling out beyond her eyes
And although she'll bring you joy
Oh lord, she's changing me
When you're down and you're headed for a bad night
And you're seeing shapes of trouble in the stars
She'll take your hand, 'cause they call her the sweet omega
Then she'll take away the sadness in your heart
'Cause the only road that you'll ever need to ride
Is the one that's rolling out beyond her eyes
And although she'll bring you joy
Don't you know she can destroy
Oh lord, she's changing me
The only road you'll ever need to ride
The only road you'll ever need to ride
The only road you'll ever need to ride
Oh, lord she's changing me
“She’s Changing Me” is a song by Fleetwood Mac, released on their 1970 album “Kiln House”. It talks about a woman, whom they call the “sweet omega” and her powers to both bring joy and destroy. The first line of the song sets the tone of warning the singer has towards this woman. He says that the wind blowing from the southwest is a sign that the “sweet omega” is coming and he needs to beware. The phrase “sweet omega” is an oxymoron, implying that although she is sweet, her being the last letter of the Greek alphabet shows her as the ultimate and final one, with a powerful and dangerous presence.
The chorus of the song consists of the phrase “the only road that you'll ever need to ride, Is the one that's rolling out beyond her eyes”, which is interpreted as the woman’s ability to mesmerize and lure the singer into following her path. The line, “although she'll bring you joy, Don't you know she can destroy” reveals the singer’s constant dilemma of whether the woman is a blessing or a curse. The last verse adds more to the theme of the song, where the singer portrays the woman as a savior who rescues him from his bad night, and takes away his sadness in his heart, emphasizing further the power she withholds over him.
In conclusion, “She’s Changing Me” is about the irresistible pull a person can have on someone, where they can convince them to alter their lives and change them forever. The song shows how the singer is conflicted between the woman’s power to bring joy and destroy. It warns of the dangerous influence a person can have over another, with their irresistible charm.
Line by Line Meaning
Now the wind that's blowing out of the southwest
The wind that's blowing warns me of something coming
Is telling me, boy you better beware
Be careful of what's coming
Here she comes, and they call her the sweet omega
The woman is coming and she's called the sweet omega
And you'll come to know the meaning of her stare
You will realize what her gaze means
'Cause the only road that you'll ever need to ride
The only path that matters
Is the one that's rolling out beyond her eyes
Is the one beyond her gaze
And although she'll bring you joy
Although she'll make you happy
Don't you know she can destroy
You must know that she can ruin you
Oh lord, she's changing me
She is transforming me, oh lord
When you're down and you're headed for a bad night
When you're feeling low and it seems like it's going to be a bad night
And you're seeing shapes of trouble in the stars
You see signs of trouble in the stars
She'll take your hand, 'cause they call her the sweet omega
She'll take your hand, because she's called the sweet omega
Then she'll take away the sadness in your heart
Then she'll take away the sadness from your heart
The only road you'll ever need to ride
The only path that matters
The only road you'll ever need to ride
The only path that matters
The only road you'll ever need to ride
The only path that matters
Oh, lord she's changing me
She is transforming me, oh lord
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Robert Welch
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?