DISCUSSION: Christine's Songs from the 1975 Fleetwood Mac album
 

As promised, the discussion thread for Christine McVie's songs from the 1975 Fleetwood Mac album. :]

Christine's Songs
1. Warm Ways
2. Over My Head
3. Say You Love Me
4. Sugar Daddy


Pretty good songs from Christine on this album - I like "Say You Love Me" and "Sugar Daddy.":sorry:

I was thinking that "World Turning" is more of a "Lindsey" song that Christine's? :shrug:

Comments, opinions, complaints?! ;) Let us know! :D

I'm really not too keen on Warm Ways and Over My Head. I just think they're petty dull and have melodies that don't really go anywhere. The verses of Over My Head start well but then it just... and that's it! Why it's on The Dance I'll never know.

I LOVE Say You Love Me though! For me, it's Chris's shining moment on the album. It's so much fun and just great to sing along to. It's almost like a shuffle, in the same way that Don't Stop was on Rumours later. I prefer Say You Love Me though.

Sugar Daddy is a weird song! On the one hand it's like a pop version of her blues material from earlier in her career but on the other it's almost a novelty track. I do like it though, buthave to be in the right mood.

World Turning is a real co-write between Chris and Lindsey and so I think you should consider it in this thread. Yes, it becomes a very Lindsey moment with the guitar work at the end but the bluesy-ness of it, especially in the verses, is pure Chris. Love it!

Yaye! A Chris thread!

Over My Head - Love it. I think it has a sexy, mellow vibe.

Say You Love Me - One of my favorites; and one of their best singles IMO. The harmonies are terrific.

Warm Ways - Pretty, but a little bland.

Sugar Daddy - Took me a bit of time to warm to this, but now I love it. Such a fun song. :)

World Turning - Awesome. I love the way Lindsey and Christine sound together, so this is one of my faves. :thumbsup:

A friend of mine swears by Sugar Daddy.

After I read a really good article about Christine's songs I can't listen to Warm Ways in the same way any more. It's got a very cheeky edge to it now :laugh:

Say You Love me is probably my least favourite of all Christine's tracks off the White Album but by no means my least favourite off the whole album. It's very sweet and catchy and I think very quintessential Chris.

Again, I think Sugar Daddy is catchy and a genuinely good song but people don't give Chris the writing credit she deserves. She's one of the cleverest lyricists I've ever come across and people over look that far too often. I've read into it a few different ways but I think the main 'message' is her not wanting to leave John even though she wants someone who could care for her while he was having his problems, she still loves him and doesn't really want anyone else. Her giggle at the end makes my heart want to explode too!

As with Sugar Daddy, I read into Over My Head being about John for the most part too. Struggling as they are and as in 'over their heads' She loves him and doesn't want to lose that.

Or maybe I'm just turning in to an English teacher ;)

World Turning I'd consider a joint effort but damn Liddy and Chris work so well together. The Maracas have always completed this one for me.

You have a wise friend, indeed. It's one of the best songs on the album and one of Christine's best, period, though for some bizarre reason a lot of fans think it stinks.

My thoughts re: her songs on the white album.

1. They all have a bright disposition, which is kind of unusual for a grouping of Christine songs. (At least one is usually dour.)

2. She sings them beautifully as her voice is in top form here. In many ways her voice from the Heroes-to-Rumours period represents her at her best.

3. Over My Head is one of those simple songs that actually benefits from its simplicity, a very straightforward, unadorned verse, with an emotionally-shaded, bittersweet chorus. I love her humming in the middle of it!

4. Say You Love Me is a masterpiece of pop. It never sounds dated or tired. This moment is beautifully performed and conceived by every member of the band. Great guitar solo--and check out those bass lines in the coda at the end!

5. World Turning is a reworking of a Peter Green song that, I think, is equal parts Buckingham-McVie. His guitar work is certainly brilliant, but it's the vocal interchanges that continue to stun me. Man can she belt the blues! Their timbre of their voices is so alike in this song that when they sing the second half of if together I can't tell who is who.

Great songs. I think they are very much a continuation of the style of songs she was writing and playing on Heroes.

Over My Head - very enjoyable song. Sweet melody. The lyrics are so simple, but so sweet at the same time.

Warm Ways - It's a good track but I think it's pretty forgettable. I don't have any objections listening to it, but it doesn't get me excited to listen to it when it comes on.

SYLM - I like this song. Not as much as over my head. It's a great single, but it never really hit me personally.

Sugar Daddy - This is a guilty pleasure! It's such a fun song and really tells a story. I love her laugh too, and the car horn. All these songs really show was a sweet, loving and simple lady she is.

Say You Love Me -- The chorus is indelible. Catchy but also creates an emotional catch. It evokes feelings of something that is so delicious, but painful because it's just out of reach. So, it's completely bittersweet and then you tag the falling, falling, falling onto it and that just adds to the illusion of grasping, but not reaching your goal. Never achieving it.

Over My Head -- For me, this is the birth of the famous FM harmonies. Simply the best.

Not fond of the other three songs of hers on this one, but I liked seeing them perform World Turning in concert when Chris was there.

Michele

I love Christine, so it's so lovely to see a thread like this xD

Say You Love Me - In my opinion, it's tied with Landslide for second best song on the white album, and it's one of her strongest songs ever. The piano work is brilliant, and that chorus! If I'm in a really happy mood, I could sing that chorus all day. And then the falling falling falling at the end... perfect. It never ever gets old either.

Warm Ways... eh. I have to be in a certain mood to like this song. It's really pretty, but if it comes on during shuffle, I'll skip it. It drags a bit.

Over My Head - I love the harmonies and whatnot, but I have to be in a certain mood to listen to it.

Sugar Daddy - I don't like word daddy at all, so it puts me off the song, but if I'm in the right mood to listen to it, it's a great little song, very fun.

World Turning - This song is brilliant. Lindsey and Christine work so well together, I never ever get bored of this song. They just bounce off each other so well, and the song makes me wanna move. If it doesn't put a smile on your face, you have no soul.

I should've done this yesterday, but here I go.

Warm Ways- Pretty much has the same reason I hate Dreams: it drags out too much
Over My Head- Don't ask why, but I'm yet to ever enjoy this song in any version, even though it was their first top 20 hit
Say You Love Me- Probably my favorite Christine tune outside of Tango in the Night (my favorites are on thre, but she's always been greatgreat), it's just so much fun to listen to
Sugar Daddy- Every band needs a fun little diddy (The Who has Squeeze Box, AC/DC has Big Balls, etc.), and Christine definitely provides it, complete with lyrics that are probably more than we think in meaning
World Turning- I got my answer for fave Chris song on here! Sure, she and Bucky wrote it together, but how can you not enjoy it, especially live with Mick's drum solo

Warm Ways - I have to be in a certain mood for this song, usually skipped when it starts playing.
Say You Love Me - Definitely one of my favourites of hers, I'll never get tired of this song. It doesn't get much better for Christine.
Over My Head - Not a bad song, I much prefer the single version over that on the album. It's a little... boring?
Sugar Daddy - Good, not one of my favourites though. If I'm in the mood for it.
World Turning - Probably my favourite Christine song with FM, even though she wrote it with Lindsey. One of the reasons her last name is 'Perfect'. She's at her best here, tied with her work on TINT.

Never say "never". I'll tell you, then you WILL know.

It's the song that started the "Fleetwood Mac" as a chart-topping band process. It forged the way for Fleetwood Mac to crossover from being an "underground FM cult band" (in the US) to being a perennial AM Radio "hit making" band....no "Over My Head", no Rumours phenomenon, and probably no Fleetwood Mac today (or even after 1980).

In a lot of ways, "Over My Head" is PROBABLY the most important song in the history of Fleetwood Mac.

Oh, I know all that, haha! Was just an expression because I'm not too keen on the song!

I agree. Before this song I had never heard of Fleetwood Mac. This is a great tune.

Warm Ways- This is such a beautiful tune. From the beginning when she croons, "sleep easy by my side" & "I'm waiting for the sun to come up. I can't sleep with your warm ways." I never skip over this song or any song on this record. It is pure perfection.

Say You Love Me- From the minute I first heard it until right now I absolutely love this song. I could listen to this over and over all day and never be sick of it. Like a lot of you my favorite part is the harmonies in the ending, "falling, falling, falling."

Over My Head-"Your mood is like a circus wheel. You're changing all the time. Sometimes I can't help but feel that I'm wasting all of my time." I have felt like that in many a relationship and friendship. There was a time in the 1980's and 1990's I was really sick of this song, but nowadays as I barely ever hear it, its beauty has returned to me. I never hated it, it was just overplayed. This song still sounds good on a radio with bad speakers, like my mom's car radio.

Sugar Daddy-Oh I love this song. When listening to this for the first time in 1978, cause it was a Christmas gift in Dec.'77, I really enjoyed the lightheartedness of this track set to the tune of a serious subject. She's looking to have a carefree life and she wants a sugar daddy to pay the bills. She taught me what a sugar daddy represents.

World Turning-I love the blending of her voice with Lindsey's. It makes me wonder if she was trying to sound like him, or was he trying to sound like her? I wonder the same thought in Don't Stop. Their voices are so much alike it is hard to tell them apart. This is a great track I prefer the studio version over the live.

Warm Ways- I've just never been able to get into WW. It's just a little too sleepy for me. It definitely sounds like the most dated song on The White Album.

Say You Love Me- Nice song, with a very catchy chorus. I've always wondered why it wasn't the first single, instead of OMH.

Over My Head- I remember trying to play this song, with my friends in junior high school, in my friend's basement. Us all doing falsetto, on "over my head". :laugh: God, where's my time machine?

Sugar Daddy- I'll never understand the hate that SD gets. It's such a great pop song! And my favorite song on the album!!!

World Turning- World Turning, is the proof, that the couple that MADE Fleetwood Mac, were Christine and Lindsey. They were the perfect musical pairing, and FM wouldn't have been ****, without either one of them. THEY were the magic, together. My favorite FM songs, are almost always collaborations between the two of them. Hold Me, Think About Me, Don't Stop, etc...

I agree with that wholeheartedly. :nod:

Come back, Christine . . .

:distress: :(

At least write a book!

I'm glad that "Sugar Daddy" is well liked. It's just a good fun pop song.

"Say You Love Me" is one of the first FM songs I heard and one of my favs.

"Over My Head" and "Warm Ways" are nice, sorta mellow-out tunes, good at the end of a long day!

All of you convinced me about "World Turning." :angel: It really should be considered a joint collaboration between Christine & Lindsey.

Just need to figure out what to do with it as far as the poll goes. Maybe just send it on down to the "Fav Song from 1975 Fleetwood Mac album" poll.

Decisions, decisions!! :distress:

Hold Me and Think About Me are among my top 2 favorite FM songs as well.

Michele

God, couldn't she at least RECORD with them??? Contribute 4 songs, Chris, and your keys/harmonies to their songs!
That's all I ask...is that too much?

I never understood why Think About Me wasn't a bigger hit. God I love that song. It's Perfekt!

I'm with everyone else considering how amazing the Christine and Lindsey collaborations are. Even though Christine just has that great of a voice that she sounds good next to anything, still yet, I agree that Chris and Linds were magic together.

Sugar Daddy-Great song! My second favorite Christine song on the album.

Over My Head-I love it! My favorite Chris song on album. On the Live album, it definitely rocks, but on The Dance.....:distress: It sounds very boring on The Dance, and I also think it could have been replaced with something much more....lively.

World Turning-The album version is my favorite, and it is such a great song.

SYLM-Once again, on the Live album, it rocks! Just a staple Mac song, even more so than Rhiannon imo.

Warm Ways-I still haven't gotten into this song, it bores me more than Never Make Me Cry.

Firing Squad awaits you.

Warm Ways is warm and mellow, bordering on too mellow as aleuzzi said.

Sugar Daddy: **** yeah, this song. :laugh: It stands out to me because it's a departure from what we came to expect from Chris. She's usually the serious, straightforward one, and this is the exact opposite. It's silly and light without being wyndy. ;)

SYLM: I do love you.

Over My Head: I love the live harmonies on this song.

World Turning: What else needs to be said?

What we came to expect?? In order for this to make any sense, you would have to have been a fan pre-1975. Were you, Lisa?

Always have loved 'Sugar Daddy'. I think it's so underrated!!

In my very young ( 12, 13- ish) days I had a hard time telling (until 'Rumours' actually) if Christine was a guy or a girl singing- She had a wonderfully unisex kind of sound, I'd hear a note and correctly identify 'that's definitely a girl' then I'd hear another part of a Christine vocal in the same song and thought 'now there she sounds like a man!' After 'Rumours' she was never anything other than the other 'perfect' woman in Fleetwood Mac, when their visual impact became part of the landscape of pop-rock.
I do maintain, however, that at times, especially early on, that Chris had a very androgynous sounding voice. Has anyone else ever thought that?

Back to 'Sugar Daddy'-- I'd love to hear Lindsey try a lead vocal on it. Or that child singer, Justin Beiber. Or even Justin Timberake. I think it'd be fantastic for a brave, hetero guy to have fun with the song and give it another layer- Yeah, gay guy, "pick me up in a big fancy car'....
but when it comes to love, he'd better leave me alone, cause I got you baby, and you give me all the love I need"--- and the 'you' of course, would be a woman! I think it'd be brilliant for a straight but bi or gay open-minded straight star to cover 'Sugar Daddy'- it sure sounds like a hit, to me!
Before anyone gets all 'how dare he say Lindsey sing Sugar Daddy'-- be sure to check out the 'Center Channel' mix of 'Everbody Finds Out'- LB sounds so hot singing 'I know he loves me, every day he calls me, he says he adores me, what can I say- You can't love him, You can't have him, I do have him most of the time'--- I actually prefer his bold vocal on that segment with Stevie barely in the mix- LB musta really liked the song to be willing to go gay for it!
But not really gay, I understand. 3 kids, wifeypoo, all that :)
Still I do wonder, at any time, had anyone else, when they were young, thought Christine's vocals were a tad masculine, or uni-sex, or androgynous?
Just another facet to a fascinating band that's kept us talking 30+ years!

I think it was timing. If it were released before "Tusk" or "Sara" it might have been much bigger, but the oddness/uniqueness of those previous singles sort of pushed audience expectations in a different direction--just a theory. "Love in Store" is, to my way of thinking, equally good and it too was a comparatively minor hit for the band, so who knows?

I understand your logic, on the Tusk singles. HOWEVER, I think Think About Me, kicks Love In Store's ass. The drums, the guitar,......everything about it. Think About Me, is a perfekt FM song. The production on LIS, is a tad awkward, comparatively.

Homer, from your last comments and your general taste in FM music, I get a strange feeling.
Is it possible that you are me? :] :shrug:

It's quite possible, that after several drinks, that I become someone else. My FB profile pic, is me in a Superman shirt, perhaps my real name is Clark? Although I'm mildly claustrophobic, so the whole phone booth thing might not work for me. And when's the last time you saw an actual phone booth?

Ya know, I started out like every other FM fan. Well, sort of... Huge fan of the entire band, and even thought SN was great. As the years passed, I came to realize what really drove the band, and what was important in the band. And that it was not the glitter and chiffon, but the actual heart and soul of the band.
Substance trumps style, every time. At least in my world, it does.

Warm Ways - I love this one! I think it sounds pretty modern, don't know why.

Over My Head - Quintessential Christine.

Say You Love Me - I like it, but not a big favorite on the album.

World Turning - LOVE IT. I love it when Lindsey and Christine sing together. They almost sound like one person.

Sugar Daddy - Good, quite underrated.

Well I personally think Over My Head is simply gorgeous. I love that song just as much today as when it first came out. Aside from the melody, the instrumental ending at the end is timeless.

I've been spending time trying to come up with something thoughtful to say besides "love 'em," so here we go.

Warm Ways: Very smooth and tropical, but not my favorite. The weakest of Christine's songs on this album, in my opinion.

Over My Head: Love this one so much, especially those harmonies.

Say You Love Me: One of my favorite Christine songs ever, and most definitely my favorite on the album. I could listen to it all day and not get tired of it.

World Turning: As far as Christine/Lindsey duets, I far prefer this one to Hold Me. And seeing as how I like Hold Me, it means I really, really love this one.

Sugar Daddy: Not really anything extra special, but certainly very enjoyable. It's a great, upbeat song, and I feel guilty for overlooking it in the past.

Hello all: Just wanted to add agreement to Homer's earlier post in this thread. Without meaning to take anything away from Stevie (I love what she brings to FM), Chris's songs are such an integral part of the band's pop success! The same can be said for Linds' production talents. Christine really shines bright on the "White" cd. Best regards, Madelow.