Rumoured to be True

The making of Rumours was a tumultuous time for Fleetwood Mac, which is an understatement. The band literally imploded upon itself. Christie McVie and John McVie had divorced and were not speaking to each other. Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, the dynamic duo of Buckingham and Nicks, who had originally been brought in for Buckingham to replace guitarist Bob Welch, though Nicks became a crucial voice of the band, broke up and were fighting all the time. Mick Fleetwood, the paterfamilias of the band, was having an affair with Nicks, all the while his wife was having an affair with his best friend (the only people not in the band). All of this was going on while recording in a very small, claustrophobic studio.

Most of the songs on the LP are vitriolic bards against each other. “Gold Dust Woman” is Lindsey railing on Nicks. “Oh, Daddy” was a weird “homage” to Fleetwood. “You Make Loving Fun” was a song Christie McVie wrote for her new lover, and her husband John had to play bass on it during the recording and subsequent tours. “You Can Go Your Own Way” more or less speaks for itself. And, the list goes on. “The Chain” is an ominous reminder of what happens when things fall apart. And, so on.

I recently watched a documentary on the making of this album, and though it has always been a favorite of mine, having watched this, it was nothing short of a miracle that this album was ever made. Yet, it was in that extreme Chaos that one of the most beautiful acts of Cosmos came about. I have listened to that record at least several hundred times in my life, from beginning to end. And, yes, I do still listen to it on the vinyl so it is an “effort” to switch it to Side Two. I have never once tired of it, and I believe it will remain one of my top 5 albums for the rest of my life. I cannot imagine many others displacing it.

I first was exposed to Fleetwood Mac probably 35 years ago, when I was just 8, by my older cousins from New Mexico. They lived in the government-constructed town of Los Alamos as my uncle was associated with The Lab, and they lived in a government-constructed house, which they had modified. It had a largish, rambling room up top, which was the kids’ room, and there was a record player. One of my cousin’s favorite bands was Fleetwood Mac, and Rumours came out about that time. I remember listening to it there, as well as everyone laughing about the provocative album cover design, and falling in love with it, and have never looked back again, so to speak.

Amidst the turmoil and the heartache, the venom and the broken trust, apparently, one night, Christie McVie sat down at the piano alone and wrote a “prayer” for the group. When the others heard it, they had to have it recorded, and they booked a grand piano, put a flower on the piano and a glass of champagne and recorded it immediately. The final version was done in one take. “Songbird” was the result and it shows that there is beauty in the eye of the hurricane, that even when all else around is falling apart, there is something that remains. It became a tradition for a flower or flowers and a glass of champagne to be put on her piano during each live performance.

It is a good prayer for all of those you Love and have Loved, even amidst the Chaos, there can indeed be Beauty.

Here is a recent version of her singing it live, some 30 years later.