Quote:
Originally Posted by cbBen
"['The Chain'] started off as–jogging the memory here–it was really Stevie's and mine to begin with in the verse: 'Listen to the wind blow....' And my ever-present pseudo-blues riffs in there. And at some point I think Christine fashioned the feel of the chorus, and the chorus was certainly Stevie's lyrics. And then at some point there's this bass line which came in at the end that's kind of a hook, and there was some case to be made for it to be a valid enough contribution as to deserve songwriting credit. I can't honestly say that Mick had anything to do with writing the song. But we did give credit to all members of the band."–Lindsey Buckingham 1993, Songwriters On Songwriting by Paul Zollo
It's ambiguous to me whether he is saying the lyrics to the "Listen to the wind blow" verse are his, or his and Stevie's both. Insert a comma before "and mine" and it could read as the former.
P.S. From the same interview: "['Walk A Thin Line'] was me on the drums. Mick was appalled. He was appalled that these drums were going to go out and people would think that's him because it offended the finer points of his sensibilities. And I understand that. I was really going for slop. And trying to cut through the slickness in some ways.... They're left and right drums, and the kick and snare are on either side, and these military press fills, which is really what the song is built on.... That worked out well, too."
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His account of The Chain’s origins isn’t entirely accurate here. It started as a Christine song. This has been discussed on this board a lot in the past. The backing track is essentially hers while the melody and lyrics are Stevie’s and Lindsey’s—mainly his contributions are cobbling together the various parts and making them into a coherent, dynamic whole. All three writers are equally responsible in different ways. The blend of folk-based melodies (Stevie) with a bluesy/quasi-jazzy chord progression (Christine) is part of what makes this song so unusual and incredible.