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Discography Listings:
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Written by Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie,
With lyrics from Stevie Nicks and music from the rest of the band, The
Chain has become the anthem of Fleetwood Mac. The Chain is the never
ending tie that bound the band together in the past and binds them
together now and, hopefully, well into the future. Undoubtedly this
song speaks volumes about bitter feelings, a wavering relationship, and
the need to keep the links in the chain together. What is in doubt,
however, is the focus of these lyrics. Did Stevie write The Chain as a
way to vent her frustration and anger over her shattered relationship
with Lindsey Buckingham, or is it a statement about the fragile links between the
five members of Fleetwood Mac and their need to stay together for each
other and for the sake of the band - or some of both?
The Chain can easily be interpreted as the written expression of love,
anger, hate and frustration toward Stevie and Lindsey’s torn
relationship and their inability to communicate and interact with each
other on a daily basis. This can be found in the lyrics "listen to the
wind blow, watch the sun rise" and "...down comes the night". " And if
you don’t love me now/ you will never love me again" could be a warning
to Lindsey to be sure that breaking up is what he wants because he will
never get another chance to love her, or simply that she knows their
time is running out and she knew it was time to decide to stay together
or go their separate ways. She might have given a clue to her desire to
be away from him and the rest of the band when she writes " run in the
shadows" and "damn you love/ damn you lies" . She loves him and he
loves her, yet they can’t get along and she feels betrayed because he is
the one who is leaving the relationship. They need to "break the
silence" and start communicating, but instead he lies and finally
"breaks the chain" between them. Her total rage toward him over leaving
climaxes in the lyrics "I can still hear you saying/You would never
break the Chain".
The lyrics also ring true when including all the members Fleetwood Mac
as the focus of "The Chain". The discord between Stevie and Lindsey,
Christine and John, and the endless fighting within the group took a
terrible toll on the band. The energy and passion shown in their music
was being consumed by disagreements, finally resulting in Lindsey’s
departure. "Listen to the wind blow" could refer to the turmoil the
band was in day in and day out. Everyone fighting, everyone wanting
nothing more that to get away from everyone else. Everyone wanting to
get away - to "run in the shadows". Their need to be together was
tearing them all apart, and the glue holding them together was weakening
day after day - "Listen to the wind blow/ down comes the night". The
only way to resolve their problems would be to start communicating - to
" break the silence" and strengthen the chain again. Stevie’s
overwhelming personal anger toward Lindsey comes through with "damn you
love/ damn your lies" and "... if you don’t love me now/ you will never
love me again". The song comes to a climax with the resounding pain and
anger of " I can still hear you saying/ you would never break the
chain".
Fortunately for all of us, the strength of the five links in the chain
have been restored. Their wounds have healed and they have grown
together again. Whether or not these lyric interpretations are valid or
not are almost irrelevant. What IS relevant is that they came back
together - not just for all of us, but for themselves. They have
finally healed and "broken the silence". Maybe now they will finally
stay together and "...never break the chain".
Transcribed to HTML by Marty Adelson.
John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood.
All Rights Reserved.
