'75 Fleetwood Mac - Analyze Your Least Favorites

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by jellyman10

The bit about her proper place being in a pub band was harsh, as I've conceded. But I really would urge all Ledgies to spend a little time reading the archives on this board, because it's easy to build up an image of someone that is quite at variance with most things they've ever said or done in public.

I don't think Christine's interviews are exactly at variance with the public's perception of her. If anything, I might think of her as being at variance with herself. Meaning she sometimes describes her role as one thing, when in reality it was quite a lot more.

I don't know if it was an article or an essay someone wrote, but I recall reading a discussion of the passive, pliant, needy nature of Christine's song lyrics. Oh, think about me, every once in a while, type pleas. I'll be here waiting. And of course, many of her songs do have that element. Even Lindsey said that he thought Christine's influence made Stevie's music less agressive and masculine than it had been before, which I found an odd observation. In fact, I might argue that he made Christine more feminine sometimes (i.e. Hold Me).

At any rate, my reaction to that article about the docile nature of Christine's song lyrics was to think, well that's fine but look at her life. She got to where she was on strength, skill and talent and I don't think she played second fiddle to anyone in that band, man or woman. She might have been a doormat in her love life and maybe her lyrics reflected that, but in her professional life she was not at all subservient. For me her songs didn't have to make a statement, because the life she led as a musician and songwriter, spoke for her. She didn't have to talk about equality, because she exemplified it.

And many of the things I know about her, aren't something I've heard her discuss in interviews. She doesn't talk about how she pretty much led rehearsals for the group. Kept things on track. I hear her do that on demos. If I listened to her in interviews, I would think she just sat back in a corner being a quiet part of the rhythm section and that wasn't the case. Before joining FM, I don't think she was just sitting at home waiting for John to return from the road and give her a sense of completion either. I think what she said and did were sometimes two different things, and one doesn't necessarily contradict the other, it just provides a fuller picture.

Michele