DISCUSSION: Christine's songs from Rumours

[MacShadowsBall]

Here's the first discussion thread for Rumours focusing on Christine McVie's songs.

Songs up for discussion...
1. Don't Stop
2. Songbird
3. You Make Loving Fun
4. Oh Daddy
5. The Chain

Since "The Chain" is a true Fleetwood Mac collaboration, it can be discussed in which every threads you feel like.

Will "Don't Stop" go to Christine or collaboration due to Lindsey's vocals?

[nailatixela]

Wow, what a great list of songs.

Don't Stop - Kind of tired of it just because it's been overplayed. But this is obviously an important song in Mac history.

Songbird - I never tire of this one. It's such a beautiful song. Chris has such a great talent for writing simple lyrics that still mean so much at the same time. I think of it as a love song, but there is still something about it that makes me sad.

YMLF - This is one of my favorite mac songs ever. So catchy! Amazing lyrics. "I never did believe in miracles, but I've a feeling it's time to try" I love the luscious "ahhh ahhh ah" harmonies. I can't find any faults with this song.

Oh Daddy - It took a bit but this song has really grown on me. I really like it because it doesn't sound like anything else on the album, so that sets it apart. Besides the fact that musically it sounds awesome, my favorite parts are the background harmonies. "sorrow..."

[tilthefirefades]

Songbird is one of the most beautiful songs ever. So sentimental, and really heartfelt. The Dance is probably my favorite performance of it, especially with her tearing up.

[Artemis]

Although Lindsey sings on Don't Stop, I'd still class it as a Christine song, rather than a collaboration, since only she wrote it.

Anyhoo, my thoughts on each song -

Don't Stop - I used to love the song, it's so fun and upbeat, and really has a positive message. However, now, I LOATHE the song. LOATHE it. I can't listen to it at all. Whenever it comes on shuffle, I cringe and skip it. I think I just overplayed it D=

Songbird - A masterpiece, and I think it's become more popular lately, seeing how many artists cover it. Eva Cassidy has an absolutely gorgeous cover version, which made me appreciate the original so much more. I didn't really care for it before I heard that cover.

You Make Loving Fun - It's one of my favourite songs this month, it's so much fun. It's great fun to sing and dance to (provided no one sees me.)

Oh Daddy - This is Don't Stop in reverse, for me. I hated the song at first, but now, I love it. I love the demo where Stevie's more prominent, but the album version is really stunning too.

[David]

You Make Loving Fun is my favorite. No other band could have pulled together such a clever, inventive track. (Another band would have started the vocal on the tonic tone, but Christine starts on the 7th.)

It's probably the most tasteful & poised rhythm & blues number an American rock band ever recorded. But it also has energy & drive, & keeps fresh in or out of the refrigerator.

Please visit my blog & leave comments!

[MissLadyLoki]

Gotta give my vote to You Make Loving Fun. It's ridiculously catchy, has a nice groove to it, and is just fun to listen to in general.

[ButterCookie]

Don't Stop - I consider it a Christine song but I rarely listen to it. It's a lovely song for it's purpose but, I too have over played it

Songbird - One of the two songs that can reduce me to tears every single time. My faourite is the version is the one off the Rumours Classic Albums. Her voice is perfect and so are the lyrics.

You Make Loving Fun - I would call SYLM a definitive FM song. For me, it really captures who they are and the relationships within the band. The Chorus contains some of my all time favourite lyrics, too.

Oh Daddy - I have had a funny relationship with Oh Daddy, funny because it's rare that I skip a Christine track... ever. For a while I liked it, then I loved it, then I hated it and now I love it again. It's lovely, sweet and heartfelt even if we don't know who it's for My favourite is definitely the version off Rumours disk 2, Stevie's harmonies are perfect.

[michelej1]

Wow, Christine's songs on this album are my least favorite in her catalog. These don't hold a candle to her work on Tango, Mirage, Tusk or the White Album, as far as I'm concerned. I've never been into YMLF, although I've always gotten a bit of a smile out of Lindsey's enthusiasm for it. I guess I would like it more if I hadn't heard it so much -- which should be even truer for Don't Stop. But I think I will have to choose Don't Stop over Songbird.

Oh Daddy has got to be my least favorite of any of her songs. I was just watching a biograph of Lucrezia Borgia last night. They should have played Oh Daddy for that. Otherwise, I have no use for it.

Michele

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by ButterCookie

You Make Loving Fun - I would call SYLM a definitive FM song.

???I'm so confused???

For me, definitely YMLF. One the all time best FM songs, ever.
I actually prefer the version on the Reissue, though. Love me those alternate lyrics at the end.

[bluefox4000]

Chris' songs on Rumours.

If I never hear Don't stop again.......I'll be Just fine. Songbird I adore and always have. Just a beautiful beautiful song. Had it played at my wedding

Not a huge fan of YMLF. Too disco for my taste. Good..but not the winner a lot of fans say it is.

Strangely i really Dig Oh Daddy. I can't explain it. love it

Mick

[Ulpian]

Hm, for me it's a tie between YMLF and Songbird. If it came to a crunch, I'd pick the former just now, but that could change.

I can take or leave Don't Stop (album version) but I **love** the version on The Dance. Just love it. I love Christine's keyboard playing and the use of the marching band, and her vocals are divine.

Oh Daddy I like, but I really don't like to hear it too often as it makes me a little melancholy. Ditto, actually, for Songbird.

The Chain is a Christine song at its core. I loved hearing how that came together.

I don't think these are necessarily her strongest songs as a collective - TITN, I think, beats Rumours on that front. However, for Songbird and YMLF alone, this album is a very fine display of her work.

[GypsySorcerer]

Don't Stop -- I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm sick to death of this song.

You Make Lovin' Fun -- Pretty close to perfect. Musically, it's one of my favorite Mac songs ever.

Songbird -- Simple and beautiful.

Oh Daddy -- I ADORE this. The version on the bonus disc is even better. I love that this song is a little darker than what Christine typically wrote. "If there's been a fool around, it's got to be me."

[Dodfather]

I don't hate Don't Stop but I very, very rarely listen to it any more. I've just heard it far too often and would quite happily see it dropped from the live set.

I really like You Make Lovin' Fun - it's catchy, quirky and even though it's of a similar sentiment to the other "break-up" songs on Rumours, it doesn;t sound quite as agressive as the others.

Songbird is just gorgeous - nothing else to day.

Oh Daddy is weird. Sometimes Ilike, other times I find it a bit sull. It's incredibly atmospheric and you have to be in the right mood for it - but when you are it's brilliant.

[aleuzzi]

YMLF all the friggin' way. I rarely think a Lindsey song is the best on a record, but GYOW might be the best Rumours song. YMLF, however, is as close a second as I can imagine. It not only has a killer groove, but these amazing choir like background vocals that ride in on the chorus--twentyseven Christines and a few Stevie and Lindeys creating this incredibly dense texture. There's also the matter of the incredible lead vocal, the guitar solo, that crazy clavinet... Can you tell I love this song?

Don't Stop. I've only ever liked the album version. The song just doesn't work for me live. It's a blues shuffle that is, in my opinion, inferior to Dissatisfied and the live versions of Get Like You Used to Be. On record, of course, the production is so fantastic that the song is given this incredible lift.

Songbird. Lovely.

Oh Daddy. More than any other song, Oh Daddy seems to me Christine's signature: it's dark, somber and--yes--haunting. Her pain is as ancient as Sappho's. And Dave, since we're talking chords, how about that diminished 7th chord that begins the line: "Yes, it's got to be me"!

[HejiraNYC]

YMLF is one of my all-time favorite FM songs, but I absolutely loathe it live. I hate the way that the rhythm just slows. down. to. a. crawl. when the chorus kicks in, unlike the album version where the rhythm just pushes right along. And the live version does not have that heavenly choir effect either, which really underscores the almost religious epiphany belied by the words "I never did believe in miracles..." YMLF is lightning in a bottle, I guess... it can be re-attempted, but never recaptured.