“Songbird cd”
 

I think Christine knew she was sick/dying when she decided to release this cd.

Nobody thinks so?

i never really got that vibe... if she knew she was dying, would releasing a CD be foremost on her mind? i think she was living her life, curating the auction, giving some interviews (in which her voice sounded awful IMO), proud of her grammy nomination....and then suddenly boom...she was hit with some diagnosis that came out of nowhere, as these things sometimes tend to do. i think maybe she knew about it a couple of months before she died. and i think things progressed more quickly than she expected...

that's just my take on it.

--Lis

There’s no way for us to know that. However, she did publicity for the album, so she was at least healthy enough to do that, and the CD was released a year ago.

I suspect people may also think she may have known she was going to die because she sold all those items at the auction, but so did John and Mick, and they’re still alive. If anything, Christine may have understood that she was nearing the end of her life, as many people do when they reach a certain age. It doesn’t necessarily mean she knew she was going to die when she did, just that she understood it could happen sooner than later.

Yeah..maybe not. If it was her swan song it would have been a longer disc with many more of her “classics”

Didn't she do an interview to promote Songbird where she sort of joked that she was getting close to 80 and hope she had a few good more years left.
You really cant speculate on such an issue. You could point to her selling her catalog too. IMHO my gut tells me she seemed authentic joking that she hoped she had several more years left while promoting Songbird.
If she was sick for awhile, I think people like Stevie and Lindsey may have heard about it. It seems relatively sudden and a decision to keep things private. I respect that decision.

I think so, too BLY—and not just because your Ledge name is identical to the surname of one of America’s finest poets.

I agree but we will probably never know. Releasing an old hash of her non-greatest hits seems to be the furthest thing anyone would do if they were terminal. I sort of see it the opposite. When Songbird was announced and released, I was floored how she was still going and even though there were no "new" recordings, I admired her spunk to want to do the project.
You could speculate endlessly. Was her hand issue connected with her back issue. The shock of it all is why we all speculate. But I hate doing that.

I have to say, even before chris passed away, that auction was making me sad. They were just selling so much. John got rid of all his basses! what does that say?? he was never gonna play anything ever again? i guess so. i guess at their ages, it's like at least chris and john were sort of thinking 'we're done playing live.' mick, i think, would carry on forever.

but i did love how the 3 of them went into the auction together.

--Lis

Actually not that much. He frequently switched through different basses. If he ever plays again, he’ll just get another one.

If it is the last word from Fleetwood Mac, it’s fitting that it was something just the core three collectively did together. No offense to any of the others, but this was their band.

That's a really nice way to think about it - something the three of them did together - it's comforting.

When the auction items were first announced, it didn't give a "we're done playing forever" vibe. To me, John best "understood the assignment" of the auction (high value items directly related to the music - and he probably kept a bass or 2 to play with), Chris seemed to be Marie Kondo-ing a storage unit from her old house, and Mick just scrounged up whatever junk he could find.


As for BLY's original topic of this thread, I think she may have known too. Perhaps she wasn't sick yet, but she "knew" in the sense that she had some of her mother's clairvoyant abilities. This collection was something she could get out quicker than that blues record she'd hoped to make, or BuckVie II, or even a compilation of her actual biggest hits (as there would be more red tape involved in getting the rights for her FM songs). She knew for sure that she'd be around to see this record released.

that's how i feel too, now. when she first said her only plan is to live, i chucked it to her dry sense of humor. but now, i keep thinking back of that interview and her words, and feel she had a premonition, a feeling.

I think being north of 75 was the premonition.

i guess John could have kept a couple. it just seemed like he got rid of so many of the important ones.

and chris's comments in her interview about just wanting to 'stay alive' just strike me as her dry sense of humor. I mean, Mick said a few months ago how he wants songbird played at his funeral, but I don't think that means he has a premonition that he's about to die....She has said in the past that her brother definitely had some of her mum's abilities, but that she didn't think she inherited any of her powers. However, it did appear that chris had been talking more and more about her health issues and discomfort and pain, and also a bit about john's declining health as well. I suppose 80 was looming large, and she was feeling her age, but i don't get the vibe that she knew she was about to die.

but in any case, i'm glad she released what she wanted. glad she saw that she got a grammy nomination, and that Everywhere was catching on with a new generation. glad she got back into life, and was able to travel so extensively on her own, and tour with her band, and write new songs and make new music. glad in a way that she didn't pass away too suddenly, and that she had an exhusband who fortunately was healthy enough to be able to travel, who went to be with her in her last days, and remained with her until the very end.

she accomplished a hell of a lot. she was quite an amazing lady. i still really miss her being in the world. :(

-Lis

At 79, things can take a sudden turn for the worse and progress from there very quickly. I've seen it happen multiple times with relatives and family friends.

Was she slowing down and having some nagging issues? Absolutely. I don't think, however, she knew the end was that close.

Overall, her 70s were a fruitful decade for her, and I'm happy for her and us.

I loved Christine in her 70's! She came back to the world. :)

Me too! She fought her way back. What a gift for us. :)

it really was. i think it was a gift for her, too.

--Lis

It was incredible having the real Christine McVie back for eight or nine more years. I wish there could have been more, but it was still breathtaking to have her back and a more fitting final chapter of the Christine we’d known and loved than if she’d faded away as a recluse in Kent.

It's mind boggling if you really sit back and let that wash over you. Christine McVie's beautiful, elegant, and even fierce legacy has a HUGE bright star over it. We as fans were blessed with In The MeanTime and her return. Then the BuckVie tour and album.

I think we all knew the end was nigh when John decided to sell that treasured surfboard he got from Stevie. :distress:

That was the moment we knew that we fans would never get the one thing we truly needed - John on TikTok, surfing on that board with a bottle of cranberry juice while Dreams plays.

Act now and you get Mick’s RRHOF award in the bargain.

I’m still digging “Slow Down” after all this time. Can’t get enough of it.

I also have my heart and muse around the orchestral version. I had to forget the original to like it. Took a couple months.

I've really tried, but I still don't like the orchestral version. The arrangement creates this discord with the vocal. It's like Songbird meets Snow White.

But, I'm happy she received recognition and accolades for it, because Chris is deserving.

By my admission, I was stoned when I took to it. I love it now.

I figured so :eek:

It translates. We are jaded from the original. However, I haven't had snow white since 1984. :laugh:

After listening to her pre 1975 Fleetwood Mac tracks today this “Songbird Cd” could have been one heck of a retrospective collection.