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.
Silver Springs
Fleetwood Mac Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Blue-green colors flashin'
I would be your only dream
Your shinin' autumn ocean crashin'
Don't say that she's pretty
And did you say that she loved you?
Baby, I don't want to know
Turn around, see me runnin'
I'll say I loved you years ago
Tell myself you never loved me, no
Don't say that she's pretty
And did you say that she loved you?
Baby, I don't want to know
Oh no
And can you tell me was it worth it?
Baby, I don't want to know
Time cast a spell on you, but you won't forget me
I know I could have loved you
But you would not let me
Time cast a spell on you, but you won't forget me
I know I could've loved you, but you would not let me
I'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice will haunt you
Give me just a chance
You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you
Was I such a fool?
I'll follow you down til' the sound of my voice will haunt you
Give me just a chance
You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you
Time cast a spell on you, but you won't forget me
I know I could've loved you, but you would not let me
I'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice
Silver Springs by Fleetwood Mac is a heart-wrenching song about a woman who loves a man deeply, but she has lost him to another woman. The song begins with the woman reminiscing about her love and thinking that the man could be her “silver spring”. She recognizes the serene beauty in him with blue-green colors flashing, and she could be his only dream, crashing like a shining autumn ocean. However, she doesn't want to know about the other woman, who might be beautiful or love him as well. She wishes time would cast a spell on him, but the memory of her voice will haunt him forever.
As the song progresses, she tries to convince herself not to love him and decides to turn around and run. She tries to tell herself that she loved him years ago, and he never loved her. The woman then asks the man whether it was worth losing her, but she doesn't want to know the answer. The song ends with her declaring her love for him and the fact that the sound of her voice would always follow him.
Throughout the song, the woman’s pain and desperation are palpable. Her inability to let go of her love for the man, despite losing him to another woman, is heartbreaking. The song is a testament to the power of love and the pain of loss.
Line by Line Meaning
You could be my silver spring
You have the potential to be my shining new beginning
Blue-green colors flashin'
The colors I see in you are vivid and full of life
I would be your only dream
I aspire to be your one and only dream
Your shinin' autumn ocean crashin'
I would be the bright autumn ocean waves crashing for you
Don't say that she's pretty
Please refrain from saying how beautiful she is
And did you say that she loved you?
Did she really confess her love to you?
Baby, I don't want to know
It's better for me to not know
So I'll begin not to love you
I'll start to fall out of love with you
Turn around, see me runnin'
If you turn around, you'll see me running away from you
I'll say I loved you years ago
I'll say my love for you is already in the past
Tell myself you never loved me, no
I'll convince myself that you never really loved me
Oh no
Expressing disappointment or surprise
And can you tell me was it worth it?
Can you honestly say that it was worth it?
Time cast a spell on you, but you won't forget me
Even though time may have passed, you will always remember me
I know I could have loved you
I have the certainty that I could have loved you
But you would not let me
However, you did not give me the chance to do so
I'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice will haunt you
I'll keep following you until the sound of my voice becomes a burden
Give me just a chance
Just give me one opportunity
You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you
You will never be able to escape from the sound of a woman who loves you
Was I such a fool?
Was I really foolish for loving you?
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
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?