Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’: 5 Best Lyrical Burns about Relationships
Fleetwood Mac’s landmark album Rumours is an absolute monster.
It’s one of nine albums ever to sell over 20 million copies in the U.S. Forty-two years after being unleashed onto the masses, it still holds up for its incredible songwriting and its main theme: Cheating, cheating and wait…more cheating.
The making of Rumours, of course, is famous for everyone in the band breaking up with each other and its other “indulgences.” (AKA: So much cocaine it would make Tony Montana blush.)
Between the divorce filing of John McVie and Christine McVie, the breakup of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham (and Nicks’ eventual “shacking up” with Mick Fleetwood), the band weren’t exactly hurting for material.
As for the cocaine, its heavy use by the band has been well-documented and was so prolific, Fleetwood reportedly wanted to thank his dealer in the album’s credits.
In short, Rumours is the ultimate cheating/break-up record. In honor of its 42nd anniversary, here are the five best lyrical burns about relationships from the album.
5. “And if you don’t love me now, you will never love me again.” – “The Chain”
A straight-forward lyric, but it certainly gets its point across.
4. “One thing I think you should know: I ain’t gonna miss you when you go.” – “Second Hand News”
What makes this lyric very stealth is the jaunty melody to which it’s put. You can almost forget how biting it is.
3. “But listen carefully to the sound of your loneliness, like a heartbeat drives you mad in the stillness of remembering what you had and what you lost” – “Dreams”
Okay…now we’re cutting deep.
2. “Rulers make bad lovers. You better put your kingdom up for sale.” – “Gold Dust Woman”
And with that lyric, Stevie Nicks has gone for the Jugular.
1. “Packing up. Shacking up’s all you wanna do.” – “Go Your Own Way”
Could number one really be any other lyric? We can’t even imagine what recording this song, in particular, must’ve been like.
Erica Banas is a rock/classic rock blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.