Best Christine McVie Songs: 10 Classic Fleetwood Mac And Solo Tracks

9: Remember Me (from ‘Penguin’, 1973)

Though McVie had contributed to Fleetwood Mac albums since 1968’s Mr Wonderful, she only officially joined the group in 1970. From that point on, the best Christine McVie songs became highlights during a period of near-constant upheaval for the band. The group’s 1973 album, Penguin, was their first recorded without guitarist and songwriter Danny Kirwan, and McVie stepped up with the blissful pop of Remember Me, her buoyant melodies countered by Bob Weston’s tangy bottleneck guitar.

8: Over My Head (from ‘Fleetwood Mac’, 1975)

The arrival of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks marked the start of a wildly successful new era for Fleetwood Mac, but the first release by this iconic line-up was one of the best Christine McVie songs to date. The hazy and lovestruck Over My Head gave the group their first US Billboard Hot 100 hit since 1969’s Oh Well, and it was a sign of things to come, not only thanks to its smooth, radio-friendly production, but also its lyrics. “I think that was based on a sort of fantasy about Lindsey, really,” McVie later said. “I think that was a sort of an ode to the gorgeous Lindsey at the time.” Though McVie and Buckingham weren’t lovers, Fleetwood Mac would become one of rock history’s most famous bands in relationships, their romantic entanglements inspiring many of the best Fleetwood Mac songs to come.

7: Hold Me (from ‘Mirage’, 1982)

The first track to be released from Fleetwood Mac’s 1982 album, Mirage, Hold Me became one of the group’s biggest hits, staying at No.4 on the US chart for seven consecutive weeks. The irresistibly catchy song was inspired by McVie’s tempestuous relationship with The Beach Boys’ drummer Dennis Wilson, who died in December 1983. The song’s video, featuring Fleetwood Mac in a surreal desert scene, became infamous as a symbol of the band’s deteriorating relationship.

6: Over & Over (from ‘Tusk’, 1979)

Fleetwood Mac’s reaction to the unprecedented success of 1977’s Rumours was the sprawling and fascinating double album Tusk. While much of the record was more abrasive and experimental than their previous work, McVie’s Over & Over was a gorgeous opening track that stands as one of the best Christine McVie songs of the era. Still, the lyrics offer a sting in the tail, as McVie sings of anxieties around a relationship she is powerless to save.

5: Little Lies (from ‘Tango In The Night’, 1987)

A US Top 10 hit, Little Lies was co-written with McVie’s then husband, Eddy Quintela. The naggingly infectious chorus and brooding and bluesy verses were given a none-more-80s production from Lindsey Buckingham, providing a counter to the lyrics, which speak of a dysfunctional and somewhat masochistic love affair.

4: Don’t Stop (from ‘Rumours’, 1977)

One of Fleetwood Mac’s signature tunes, Don’t Stop was written in the aftermath of Christine McVie’s divorce from bassist John McVie. The chugging blues-rock arrangement mirrors the optimism of the lyrics, which Christine intended as an encouragement for her ex-husband to look to the future. Don’t Stop reached No.3 in the US and, in 1992, was used as the theme music for Bill Clinton’s successful presidential campaign. Clinton later persuaded the band to reform and play the track at his inaugural presidential ball, in 1993.

3: You Make Loving Fun (from ‘Rumours’, 1977)

The fourth and final single from Rumours, You Make Loving Fun is a heady distillation of the giddy possibilities of new love, written as McVie embarked upon a relationship with Fleetwood Mac’s lighting director Curry Grant. According to Rumours producer Ken Calliat’s book Making Rumours: The Inside Story Of The Classic Fleetwood Mac Album, McVie avoided upsetting her former husband in the studio by telling him the song was about her dog.

2: Songbird (from ‘Rumours’, 1977)

This bittersweet piano ballad closed every Fleetwood Mac show from the release of Rumours until McVie left the band’s touring line-up in 1998. Ken Calliat knew Songbird was special as soon as McVie began playing it during the album sessions, and suggested McVie record it as a solo track. Zellerbach Hall, an auditorium in Berkeley, California, was booked, and McVie performed and sang Songbird on a nine-foot Steinway piano which Calliat had decorated with flowers. The song was later covered by Eva Cassidy and Willie Nelson, but it remains its author’s signature tune.

1: Everywhere (from ‘Tango In The Night’, 1987)

The recording of the Tango In The Night album may have been beset by inter-band problems, but it’s impossible to tell that from the weightless and effervescent pop perfection of Everywhere. Topping this list of the best Christine McVie songs, it’s more evidence of her genius for writing songs that capture the first flushes of love – a shimmering moment of devotion that has resonated through the years.

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