Dreams: The Greatest 2 Chord Song of All Time?

[FuzzyPlum]

I love a bit of Rick Beato...great channel!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpqAz0ZNQaY

Anyway, he picks out Dreams as one of the 3 greatest 2-chord songs of all time, along with Horse With No Name (America) and Something In The Way (Nirvana).

Stripped back like this you can appreciate just how simple it really is.

[Macfan4life]

Horse with no name is incredible

[SteveMacD]

Horse with no name is incredible

“Feeling Alright” wasn’t in the top three?

[aleuzzi]

Other great FM two-chord songs: Over My Head, Hold Me, Coming Your Way, Why, and Bad Loser.

There are others, but these come to mind. Why and Hold Me are especially impressive because their arrangements are so full and sophisticated that you don’t notice how basic (yet sound) their respective song structures really are.

[HomerMcvie]

Other great FM two-chord songs: Over My Head, Hold Me, Coming Your Way, Why, and Bad Loser.

There are others, but these come to mind. Why and Hold Me are especially impressive because their arrangements are so full and sophisticated that you don’t notice how basic (yet sound) their respective song structures really are.
With all due respect, :xoxo: , OMH and Why are 4 and 3 chord songs(and that's if you don't count the Why guitar intro- it's more if you do). When I was a kid, I used to confuse a minor II for a IV. And Hold Me verses are Am G D, with the choruses running G Am G/B C D.

[aleuzzi]

With all due respect, :xoxo: , OMH and Why are 3 chord songs(and that's if you don't count the Why guitar intro- it's more if you do). When I was a kid, I used to confuse a minor II for a IV. And Hold Me verses are Am G D, with the choruses running G Am G/B C D.

Of course, you’re right (and no disrespect was assumed).

Even Dreams has more than 2 chords if you count all the clever little changes (or variations on the F/G movements with F7 and G6). Still, I’ve played OMH and Why and they’re essentially two chords—with one or two key switches in each (no I don’t count the intro to Why). Forgot about all the chords in Hold Me! Anyway, it was in that spirit that I listed these other songs.

[HomerMcvie]

Of course, you’re right (and no disrespect was assumed).

Even Dreams has more than 2 chords if you count all the clever little changes (or variations on the F/G movements with F7 and G6). Still, I’ve played OMH and Why and they’re essentially two chords—with one or two key switches in each (no I don’t count the intro to Why). Forgot about all the chords in Hold Me! Anyway, it was in that spirit that I listed these other songs.
I almost pointed out Dreams, too. Somewhere....I have a FM Anthology book(White, Rumours, and Tusk- if I remember correctly- I've not seen it for years) that shows Dreams with Am and Fmaj7(again, if I remember correctly), even though they sound almost the same.

[aleuzzi]

I almost pointed out Dreams, too. Somewhere....I have a FM Anthology book(White, Rumours, and Tusk- if I remember correctly- I've not seen it for years) that shows Dreams with Am and Fmaj7(again, if I remember correctly), even though they sound almost the same.

I just dug that book out of a pile and don’t see Am anywhere in a single chord, but there are times when her voice is hitting a notes nowhere on the two chords. And then, at the very end, there’s a “b” tacked onto the chord.

I looked at OMH, too. That song is suspended in D and D/G so much that when the brief but critical Em and A are sounded respectively it’s like the heavens have opened—or something.

[HomerMcvie]

I just dug that book out of a pile and don’t see Am anywhere in a single chord, but there are times when her voice is hitting a notes nowhere on the two chords. And then, at the very end, there’s a “b” tacked onto the chord.

I looked at OMH, too. That song is suspended in D and D/G so much that when the brief but critical Em and A are sounded respectively it’s like the heavens have opened—or something.
Well again, I was going from memory, and it ain't what it used to be. Yet I remember when $tevie was the most likeable member of the band. :wavey::woohoo:

[bombaysaffires]

Saw this a few days ago... and was struck how NO ONE can really sing lead on this song but Stevie. She brought a magic to it with the fluidity of her voice (back in the 70s when it would go wherever she wanted it to, from low to high from raspy to beautifully clear). Other people just need to not sing it, because they suck at it (even if they're objectively good singers).

What he's playing on the guitar is what is clearly played on keys in live performances. You can really hear it in Benmont's playing on the Bella Donna concert audio.

The Rumours production is still absolutely f&*&ing SUBLIME and I will love it til the day I die.

[aleuzzi]

Well again, I was going from memory, and it ain't what it used to be. Yet I remember when $tevie was the most likeable member of the band. :wavey::woohoo:

She formed a pact. She was a nun on the road. She always gave the band first pick of her songs. She never broke up Fleetwood Mac.

[aleuzzi]

Saw this a few days ago... and was struck how NO ONE can really sing lead on this song but Stevie. She brought a magic to it with the fluidity of her voice (back in the 70s when it would go wherever she wanted it to, from low to high from raspy to beautifully clear). Other people just need to not sing it, because they suck at it (even if they're objectively good singers).

What he's playing on the guitar is what is clearly played on keys in live performances. You can really hear it in Benmont's playing on the Bella Donna concert audio.

The Rumours production is still absolutely f&*&ing SUBLIME and I will love it til the day I die.

It is true: the song only works when Stevie is singing it. The covers — even when sung by very good singers — sound generic and professional as opposed to intense and persuasive.

[jbrownsjr]

It is true: the song only works when Stevie is singing it. The covers — even when sung by very good singers — sound generic and professional as opposed to intense and persuasive.

It's really true of all 3 of them. So hard to re-create what they do.

[aleuzzi]

It's really true of all 3 of them. So hard to re-create what they do.

Even those who say Eva Cassidy (sp?) sang a better “Songbird” are just plain wrong.

Ari Hest’s “Little Lies” is pretty damn cool—and it comes closest to a Rumours-era FM cover sounding authentic.

[jbrownsjr]

Even those who say Eva Cassidy (sp?) sang a better “Songbird” are just plain wrong.

Ari Hest’s “Little Lies” is pretty damn cool—and it comes closest to a Rumours-era FM cover sounding authentic.

Eva's is pretty at best. Christine's is authentic and full of pain.

[vivfox]

Even those who say Eva Cassidy (sp?) sang a better “Songbird” are just plain wrong.

I know I'm not wrong

Eva's is pretty at best. Christine's is authentic and full of pain.

To me Songbird should have been left off Rumours and maybe just performed as a concert song. I hated having that song as a closer. It was shoved down our throats as the closing song for a thousand years. Stevie did the same with HAEWAFY. I want my concerts to go out with a bang. Rock me to the end of the show! And I will take Eva's version over Christine's any day of the week.

[HomerMcvie]

I know I'm not wrong


To me Songbird should have been left off Rumours and maybe just performed as a concert song. I hated having that song as a closer. It was shoved down our throats as the closing song for a thousand years. Stevie did the same with HAEWAFY. I want my concerts to go out with a bang. Rock me to the end of the show! And I will take Eva's version over Christine's any day of the week.

How do you feel about Oh Daddy?:lol::wavey:

[vivfox]

How do you feel about Oh Daddy?:lol::wavey:
Well now that you ask me, I would have been happier had Mick given Christine the speech out in the parking lot about removing Songbird and Oh Daddy so they can keep Silver Springs on Rumours.:lol: But just the other day when you said Silver Springs would have been perfect for Tusk, I realized you were 100% right. It would have fit in perfectly with her other 5 songs. But the only song on Tusk I didn't care for was Never Make Me Cry, and it's too short for SS to replace with. So if I HAD to cut another track for SS, I would say goodbye to Not That Funny.

[HomerMcvie]

Well now that you ask me, I would have been happier had Mick given Christine the speech out in the parking lot about removing Songbird and Oh Daddy so they can keep Silver Springs on Rumours.:lol: But just the other day when you said Silver Springs would have been perfect for Tusk, I realized you were 100% right. It would have fit in perfectly with her other 5 songs. But the only song on Tusk I didn't care for was Never Make Me Cry, and it's too short for SS to replace with. So if I HAD to cut another track for SS, I would say goodbye to Not That Funny.

Okay, SS doesn't belong on Rumours, but let me put Oh Daddy on Tusk, and put Think About Me on Rumours. That would even make Rumours better!

No one wanted to hear a song about Mick anyway! Not that I ever believed his story about it being about him. Mick went to the $tevie Nicks School of Truth Telling.

I had never really thought about it until the other day...SS really DOES fit the mood of Tusk far better than Rumours. And you can do whatever with NTF. I've never understood why Lindsey loves it so. It's my least favorite song of his on Tusk.

[bombaysaffires]

Okay, SS doesn't belong on Rumours, but let me put Oh Daddy on Tusk, and put Think About Me on Rumours. That would even make Rumours better!

I actually kinda agree with this.


And you can do whatever with NTF. I've never understood why Lindsey loves it so. It's my least favorite song of his on Tusk.

LOVE it.

[SteveMacD]

Remove “Songbird?”

Seriously?

Willie Nelson not only covered it, but made it the title track!

Here’s MY Side 2

The Chain
Silver Springs
You Make Loving Fun
Gold Dust Woman

[vivfox]

Remove “Songbird?”
Seriously?
Willie Nelson not only covered it, but made it the title track!


BFD :lol::p

[aleuzzi]

Remove “Songbird?”

Seriously?

Willie Nelson not only covered it, but made it the title track!

Here’s MY Side 2

The Chain
Silver Springs
You Make Loving Fun
Gold Dust Woman

I would not change anything about Rumours as it was originally released in February 1977. Not the song selection, not the running order, not the performance and arrangement choices. Nothing.

Thankfully, no album is perfect, for absolute perfection is a kind of creative death (and some of my favorite FM albums are the ones with noticeable flaws). But reaching near-perfection means realizing a kind of inexhaustible magic, a proverbial sliver of the eternal. Or something like that.

So, all those who say “Do away with ‘Songbird’” or “Cancel ‘Oh Daddy’” or “Swap out IDWK for SS”—to those I say you’re revising for worse.

[HomerMcvie]

I would not change anything about Rumours as it was originally released in February 1977. Not the song selection, not the running order, not the performance and arrangement choices. Nothing.

Thankfully, no album is perfect, for absolute perfection is a kind of creative death (and some of my favorite FM albums are the ones with noticeable flaws). But reaching near-perfection means realizing a kind of inexhaustible magic, a proverbial sliver of the eternal. Or something like that.

So, all those who say “Do away with ‘Songbird’” or “Cancel ‘Oh Daddy’” or “Swap out IDWK for SS”—to those I say you’re revising for worse.

Rumours is perfect.

We're just "what iffing".

Silver Springs was NOT on Rumours, and shouldn't have been.

That is all.

[aleuzzi]

Rumours is perfect.

We're just "what iffing".

Silver Springs was NOT on Rumours, and shouldn't have been.

That is all.

Yeah—I get the riffing. It can be fun, but I hate when I see beautiful songs dismissed or wished off the record (usually Christine songs) when all the choices that were made really served the record.

[HomerMcvie]

Yeah—I get the riffing. It can be fun, but I hate when I see beautiful songs dismissed or wished off the record (usually Christine songs) when all the choices that were made really served the record.

Beautiful Child and Storms BORE ME TO TEARS. Should have edited those songs down to 30 seconds!:p

[vivfox]

Yeah—I get the riffing. It can be fun, but I hate when I see beautiful songs dismissed or wished off the record (usually Christine songs) when all the choices that were made really served the record.

If it makes you feel any better, my fave song off the White Album is Warm Ways.

[aleuzzi]

If it makes you feel any better, my fave song off the White Album is Warm Ways.

It’s a lovely song :)

[DownOnRodeo]

Dreams doesn't seem fair because I can't imagine it without Lindsey and John's musical interlude, which introduces at least one new chord.

What about Albatross?

[Macfan4life]

If it makes you feel any better, my fave song off the White Album is Warm Ways.
Warm Ways is beautiful. Its so good that it was picked to be the first single in England. I dont understand the hate Warm Ways and Oh Daddy get on this board. Both are so magical and the musical track makes me feel so good. Isn't that what good music is supposed to do?
Both have that mystical and magical 1970s Fleetwood Mac sound.

[DownOnRodeo]

"Miranda" might be another possible two-chord song, or close enough.