Rumours

So often I've said that on this blog I whine incessantly. Then something happens to make me wonder how much of what I say here is whining and how much are simply statements of fact.
One of my friends recently told me that it's fun to read the entries, that it's more fun than reading about current events. She also wonders if I have Buffy/Angel/Daria transcripts handy and at my disposal.
Remember how I once said that I appreciate my friends' blogs because it saves me the trouble of hearing their whining in person?

Anyway.


Last night I watched a feature on Fleetwood Mac, like a look back on the making of their instant classic of an album, "Rumours". I don't care how much of a caricature Stevie Nicks has become, or how the band itself has become the poster child for dysfunction, that album is wonderful.
I've once said that Fisher's songs encompass the whole relationship cycle, and capture the very essence of different kinds of relationships. Rumours is the ultimate break up album. All the different kinds of breaking up, Fleetwood Mac captured in this single album.
To wit: During the making of the album, Mick Fleetwood's wife was making off with his friend. John and Christine McVie were in the middle of divorcing, and Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were in the middle of their nastiest split yet. But the record company needed them to release a new album -- and soon -- and so they holed up in some studio in the middle of nowhere, and having to deal with each other.
I think it was Mick Fleetwood who said that their communication was their songs, the three singers -- Lindsey, Christine, and Stevie -- told each other what they wanted when they sang. And that John got the short stick because he doesn't sing. Anyway, if you can forgive Stevie's sometimes-grating vocals, the songs are just...
Stevie has often whined that while Christine's lyrics were undoubtedly sad, and hers are hopeful, Lindsey's break-up words were always so angry. You hear the album, you hear the songs, the ones that are about just walking away are his.
The album was their golden moment, and all of their demons have come out to play.
Then, years later, in 1996(?), they hold a reunion concert that became a tour, The Dance. And in one particular new song, Stevie gets hers back at Lindsey. "Silver Springs" reveals their demons, which, if you know the story, is quite accurate: the two go on to make up and break up again during the tour.
Time casts a spell on you, but you won’t forget me
I know I could have loved you, but you would not let me
I’ll follow you down til’ the sound of my voice will haunt you
You’ll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you

Yes. No matter how good Fleetwood Mac still is (which is up for debate, especially since Christie McVie has quit), they just aren't as great as they were when they made Rumours.



Renton: "His new songs aren't bad."
Sickboy: "But they aren't any good either, are they?"
(Trainspotting)




Oh, just one more thing, going back to the David Beckham rant a few posts back: I do not condone naming your children Brooklyn, Romeo, or Cruz. Stupid, stupid names. (If you share any of those three names, I didn't mean you)
Just because you've played for two of the world's biggest football teams does not explain why David Beckham, England captain, married a Spice Girl, and named their children Brooklyn, Romeo, or Cruz.
- Adam Sessler (X-Play)