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.
Trying So Hard To Forget
Fleetwood Mac Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sometimes you just sit right down and cry
You know life can be so sad
Sometimes you just sit right down, and you cry
Sometime your luck it gets so bad
Maybe you'd be better off if you should die
Yes I've tried so hard not to remember
I've tried so hard not to remember
And people I've tried so hard to forget
But I can't stop my mind wandering
Back to the days I was just a down trodden kid
Some folks have such a good life
You know they just get on that big train, and you ride
You know some folks have such a good life
They just get on that big train, and you ride
I would spend most of my days
Running and hiding from the world outside
If I ever get to heaven
You know, that sure would ease my worried mind
Yes, if I ever get to heaven
That sure would ease my worried life
You know when I find that place in the sky
People I'm gonna leave this old world behind
The lyrics to Fleetwood Mac's song Trying So Hard to Forget depict the struggles of life and the desperation to leave it behind. The opening lines suggest that life can be so overwhelming that it causes one to cry. This sets the tone for the entire song that is about the difficulties of life. The lyrics touch on the theme of both luck and memory. The singer acknowledges that sometimes luck can be so bad that it's better to end things. In trying so hard to forget, the singer has glimpses of his past.
The song then takes a different turn in the next verse whereby the singer recounts how some people have it so good, they just get on a train and ride, whereas he spends most of his days running and hiding. This disparity underscores some of the significant disparities that exist in life, while also highlighting the fact that life is a journey, and for some, it's an effortless journey while others struggle to get by.
The final verse takes a more hopeful turn as the singer ponders the possibility of heaven, and he believes that if he ever gets there, his worries will be eased. The song also features a shift from the first person to the second person in the final line, wherein he imagines the possibility of leaving this world behind. Overall, the song's underlying message is about the struggles of life and a hope that there is a better place after death.
Line by Line Meaning
You know life can be so sad
Life is capable of inducing sorrow and melancholy in people
Sometimes you just sit right down and cry
The emotions of despair are so overwhelming that they can compel one to break down
Sometime your luck it gets so bad
Luck has its bad days where things don't go as planned
Maybe you'd be better off if you should die
Life can get so unbearable that suicide seems liberating
Yes I've tried so hard not to remember
The singer has put in a great effort to forget a past memory but to no avail
And people I've tried so hard to forget
The singer has intensely tried to erase people from their life and memory
But I can't stop my mind wandering
Even when one tries to forget, the mind has a way of bringing the memories back
Back to the days I was just a down trodden kid
The singer's memories are centered on their downtrodden and miserable childhood
Some folks have such a good life
Some people are blessed with a fulfilling and happy life
You know they just get on that big train, and you ride
Those people live their lives joyfully without much struggle
I would spend most of my days
The singer's existence was characterized by living in isolation and avoiding people
Running and hiding from the world outside
The singer would actively go into hiding mode to prevent any negative interaction with society
If I ever get to heaven
The singer longs for a place or time where life would be free of pain and struggle
You know, that sure would ease my worried mind
The thoughts of this ideal situation have the potential to relieve the singer's anxiety
You know when I find that place in the sky
The singer is hopeful that they will find a place of solace
People I'm gonna leave this old world behind
The singer wants to escape this painful existence and continue the afterlife in a peaceful atmosphere
Lyrics © Mute Song Limited
Written by: C.G. ADAMS, P.A. GREEN
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?