Chords for How Fleetwood Mac Wrote "The Chain"

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Fleetwood Mac were at their wits end in 1976.
Christine and John McVie were in the middle of a messy divorce and not on speaking terms outside the studio.
[Am] Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham were in the midst of a tumultuous on-again-off [Dm]-again
relationship and Mick Fleetwood was separating from his [E] wife too.
On top of this some members were nursing [Am] serious cocaine
addictions and the media was hounding the band [C] non-stop.
[Dm] Somehow amidst all this pressure the band [E] managed to record one of the greatest albums of all [Am] time.
Rumors.
At the center of this album [D] sits what could possibly be the most important song of Fleetwood Mac's [E] career.
Let's take a closer look.
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_ [Dm] _ _ _ [E] _ [Em] Rumors is an album loaded with classics front to back.
It produced four
incredible singles that still get [B] airplay today and has allegedly sold 40 [D] million copies.
Perhaps part of the reason for this album success is its universal [E] appeal.
We've all been through breakups and the album [Em] speaks to that.
Lyrically
it's an airing of [E] grievances about lovers from [D] start to finish.
In [F] songs like Go Your Own Way you can hear the tension in the band through the lyrics, but the music is incredibly inspiring.
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Much of the album sounds like this.
[G] Band members taking shots at each other [D] over top of jaunty tunes and happy harmonies.
But halfway through the album we encounter something different.
The [E] album's B-side opens with The Chain, the only [Em] track on the entire album to feature writing credits from all five band members.
[B] Instead of the upbeat rock that has dominated the [A] album, The Chain starts out dark and mysterious,
[E] heavy with tension. _ _ _ _ _ _
The song opens on a guitar lick recycled from Lola My Love, a track originally released on Buckingham and Nick's
self-titled debut album. _ _ _
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_ _ _ _ _ [F] On _ [B] top [C] of the Lola My Love riff, [G] we get intense [Em] poetic lyrics by Stevie [B] Nicks.
Looking at the original demo of the song we can see how it [A] clearly starts out [Am] as Nick's venting her frustrations with Buckingham.
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_ [C] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ [Am] _
_ _ [E] _ _ [C] _ _ _ [D] _
_ [A] _ By the time the [E] song is complete however, the lyrics have transformed almost entirely.
They're much more vague now, but still paint a clear picture of [A] tension and dissonance.
_ _ _ [D] _ _ [C] _ _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[A] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _
[E] _ _ The verses are full of venom and frustration,
but the chorus hints at what's to come when it name drops The [Em] Chain.
For two verses and choruses the song [F#] hangs in these tense emotions, and then we hit a drastic shift.
Everything drops out [E] and we hear a now iconic [A] bass riff.
_ [C] _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ [E] That John McVie riff and Mick Fleetwood drum accompaniment was [D] originally used in a [Am] discarded
Christine McVie song called Keep Me There.
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_ _ [C] _ _ [D] _ _ _ _
[Em] _ _ [F] _ _ [Em] _ _ [F] _ _
_ [Em] _ _ [F] _ _ _ [F] _ _
_ [A] _ _ [Bm] _ _ _ [Em] _ _
_ _ [A] _ [C] The [B] Keep Me There lick builds tension and it grows to a breaking point where Buckingham
explodes into an emotional guitar solo, a [A] release of the anger and frustration that the band have [E] with each other. _ _ _
[A] _ _ [C] _ _ [Em] _ _ _ _
_ [Am] _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ [Em] _ _ Finally, we reach the climactic outro with the repetition of two phrases.
[A] _ _
_ [Em] _ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _
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The band harmonize as they sing about unity, but beneath they have [E] this undercurrent.
They're running in the shadows, the darkness is all around them.
[Em] These lyrics are the essence of the song.
Despite the [F#] tensions in the band, despite the media pressure outside of the band, [E] The Chain is keeping the band together.
At its heart [Em] The Chain is the music, the connection that brought those five members together [E] and held them strong up until this point.
It's an [A] intense statement, a dark and desperate unity [E] amidst an album full [Bm] of bright discord.
[F#] The song continues to repeat, [Em] echoing as it fades out.
Everything about The [E] Chain mimics the band's life.
At a time when the group [A] was fragmented and kept together only by their music,
the song structurally [Bm] pulled together pieces from each [B] of their creative minds.
By hearkening back to a song from Buckingham Knicks, [Em] the band reveals the pain they're feeling for the better times that they've passed.
Even [F#] the very nature of Chains reflects the band.
They're a symbol of [D] strength and togetherness, but at the same time Chains can be [E] imprisonment.
Fleetwood Mac is being torn apart by being forced to work together, [Em] yet they know they're creating something absolutely transcendent.
[F#] This unity pulled the band through another decade of music [D] before the lineup changed again.
In that time, The Chain was featured [Em] front and center in their live performances, often [E] opening up their shows.
When the lineup reunited in [A] 2014, The Chain was right there again, opening up their setlist.
[Bm] Growing from bits of three different [Em] songs and ideas from all five band members, The Chain tells an important message.
[F#] Fleetwood Mac the band was more important than any one individual [A] possibly could be,
and thanks to the strength of The Chain [F#] and the music that it helped them create, the band will [Bm] live on forever.
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