12 Great Fleetwood Mac Songs by Christine McVie
I’ve been a fan of Fleetwood Mac ever since I was a kid. Their legendary “Rumours” album was released right around the time I started listening to music and I loved all of the big hit songs from it that were constantly being played on the radio back then.
I also loved the popular songs that came from their next two albums, “Tusk” and “Mirage.” However, I still didn’t consider them as one of my favorite bands and I didn’t even own any of their albums. That all changed in 1987 when they released their “Tango In The Night” album. I bought it on a whim right after it came out and I instantly loved it. To say I listened to it A LOT would be a major understatement.
Falling in love with that album caused me to buy all of the other albums they’d released since they became superstars after Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band and they released the “Fleetwood Mac” album in 1975.
In a cool coincidence here, I just looked up the release date of that album and it was July 11, 1975. I’m currently writing this article on July 11, 2021. So, Happy 46th Anniversary, “Fleetwood Mac” album!
I devoured and fell in with that one and all of the other albums. My favorite songs on each of them tended to be by either Lindsey Buckingham or Stevie Nicks. Even though I also liked a lot of the songs by Christine McVie, I considered her to be my least favorite of the three singer/songwriters in the band.
Why was that? Well, in retrospect, I think it may have at least partly been because a lot of her songs were extra-mellow. There’s nothing wrong with songs like that, of course, but I was in my early 20s when I first heard most of them. I wasn’t an especially mellow person back then, so I often skipped over her songs when I listened to the albums. As the years have passed, I’ve mellowed and have found myself loving Christine’s Fleetwood Mac songs more and more. My original plan was to do a Top 1o list but I had a hard time narrowing it down to just 10 songs. Honestly, even choosing just 12 songs was difficult, but I did it.
Note: Some of you may be considering telling me that Christine was a member of Fleetwood Mac for five albums before the “Fleetwood Mac” album in 1975 and she did some very good songs in that time period. You’re absolutely right and I agree with you. Christine also later released some fantastic songs as a solo artist. However, I can’t include everything here, can I? Therefore, I’m focusing on her work with the band since the “Fleetwood Mac” album.
So, here we go. In order of when they were released, here are 12 great Fleetwood Mac songs by Christine McVie. Enjoy.
- “Warm Ways” from the “Fleetwood Mac” album. One of the things that I failed to mention above is that in addition to being a wonderful singer, Christine is also an exceptional keyboardist and songwriter. In fact, she wrote or co-wrote each of the songs I’m listing here today. “Warm Ways” is an especially nice one. Very sweet lyrics and music. In one of the lines, she sings, “Forever love.” I know when she wrote it she wasn’t talking about what some guy named Pierce would feel about the song 46 years later, but hey, this guy named Pierce will “forever love” this song.
2. “Songbird” from the “Rumours” album. This is one of my all-time favorite love songs, not just by Fleetwood Mac, but by anybody. Musically and lyrically, it’s simply wonderful.
It contains one of my favorite lines of lyrics ever: “And I wish you all the love in the world. But most of all, I wish it from myself.”
How great is that? You want someone to feel all the love in the world and you want more than anything else to be the one person giving them all of that love?
Absolutely beautiful.
3. “You Make Loving Fun” from “Rumours.” This was a big hit song for the band and deservedly so. It’s got a great tune and very catchy lyrics. Plus, who doesn’t want love to have extra elements of fun, right?
4. “Over & Over” from the “Tusk” album. Remember earlier when I said that I used to skip over some of Christine’s songs? Well, this used to be one of them. I always thought it was a good song, but it’s VERY mellow and I used to think it was an odd choice to be the opening track on the “Tusk” album. I wanted to rock and roll! I wanted to start the album with some quirky song by Lindsey or some rocking song about witches by Stevie. But I’ve grown up. I now realize this is a perfect song to ease into the “Tusk” album with. Lovely vocals and lyrics.
I could listen to “Over & Over” over and over again.
Okay, bad joke out of my system. Moving on now.
5. “Think About Me” from “Tusk.” A great, upbeat pop song from the band that was another big hit for them. There’s a lot I love about it, but I especially love how Christine’s and Lindsey’s voices sound together singing in harmony here.
6. “Love In Store,” the opening track on their “Mirage” album. This has always been one of my absolute favorites from the band. I’m going to step back into the eighties and say what I said about it back then: It’s an awesome song, man! Seriously, it’s got great vocals and music. I especially love the nice steady drumbeat throughout it from Mick Fleetwood. Note: If you’re into running or cycling, this song is especially fun to run and ride to.
7. “Hold Me” from “Mirage.” Christine shares the lead vocals here with Lindsey and they sound perfect together. The song was a big hit on the radio and the music video above was very popular on MTV. Definitely a very fun song and video.
8. “Mystified” from the “Tango In The Night” album. This was one of the first songs that really made me take note of just how talented Christine is. It’s a great ballad with beautiful music and vocals. It’s one of my favorite songs on what is my personal favorite album from the band.
9. “Little Lies” from “Tango In The Night.” The biggest hit from the album and one of their most successful singles ever. I’ve always loved this one a lot. On a personal note, I recently discovered that it’s my wife’s favorite song by Fleetwood Mac, so that makes it even more special to me now.
10. “Isn’t It Midnight” from “Tango In The Night.” Although she’s mostly known for her ballads and pop songs, Christine McVie can also rock and roll! “Isn’t It Midnight” is a prime example of that. This is an awesome (there I go again) tune that deserves to be played loud and played often.
11. “As Long As You Follow,” was a new song recorded for their “Greatest Hits” album in 1988. This is the first tune the band released after Lindsey Buckingham left the band. It was a mild hit when it came out, but I always thought it should have been more popular than it actually was. I think it’s sadly become sort of forgotten over the years, due to it not being on any of their studio albums. I think that’s a shame, because it’s truly a great song.
12. “Save Me,” which was the only Top 40 hit song from the band’s underrated “Behind The Mask” album. I’ve always liked this one a lot. I can never listen to it without it then becoming stuck in my head for the rest of the day. And you know what? I’m okay with that when it happens, because I love the song.
I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting these twelve songs today. I’m going to go now and listen to some of Christine McVie’s other great songs that I didn’t include here.
Speaking of which…
“Don’t stop” rocking and rolling, my friends.
Thank you for reading the above! If you enjoyed it, you may also enjoy these other music-related stories from me:
