DJ Allyn – The Soundtrack for my Life

Hypnotized – Fleetwood Mac  

Fleetwood Mac are a British/American rock band formed in 1967, that have experienced a high turnover of personnel and varied levels of success. From the band’s inception through the end of 1974, no incarnation of Fleetwood Mac lasted as long as two years.

The only member present in the band from the very beginning is its namesake drummer Mick Fleetwood. Bassist John McVie, despite his giving part of his name to the band, did not play on their first single nor at their first concerts. Keyboardist Christine McVie has, to date, appeared on all but two albums, either as a member or as a session musician. She also supplied the artwork for the album Kiln House.

The two most successful periods for the band were during the late 1960s British blues boom, when they were led by guitarist Peter Green; and from 1975-87, with more pop-orientation, featuring Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The band enjoyed more modest success in the intervening period between 1971 and 1974, with the line-up that included Bob Welch, and also during the 1990s which saw more personnel changes before the return of Nicks and Buckingham in 1997, and more recently, the departure of Christine McVie.

Hypnotized

It’s the same kind of story
That seems to come down from long ago
Two friends having coffee together
When something flies by their window
It might be out on that lawn
Which is wide, at least half of a playing field
Because there’s no explaining what your imagination
Can make you see and feel

Seems like a dream
(They) got me hypnotized

Now it’s not a meaningless question
To ask if they’ve been and gone
I remember a talk about North
Carolina and a strange, strange pond
You see the sides were like glass
In the thick of a forest without a road
And if any man’s hand ever made that land
Then I think it would’ve showed

Seems like a dream
(They) got me hypnotized

They say there’s a place down in Mexico
Where a man can fly over mountains and hills
And he don’t need an airplane or some kind of engine
And he never will
Now you know it’s a meaningless question
To ask if those stories are right
‘Cause what matters most is the feeling
You get when you’re hypnotized

Seems like a dream
(They) got me hypnotized

• Audio from the 1973 album, Mystery to Me:

Big Love ~ Fleetwood Mac  

Fleetwood Mac are a British/American rock band formed in 1967, that have experienced a high turnover of personnel and varied levels of success. From the band’s inception through the end of 1974, no incarnation of Fleetwood Mac lasted as long as two years.

The only member present in the band from the very beginning is its namesake drummer Mick Fleetwood. Bassist John McVie, despite his giving part of his name to the band, did not play on their first single nor at their first concerts. Keyboardist Christine McVie has, to date, appeared on all but two albums, either as a member or as a session musician. She also supplied the artwork for the album Kiln House.

The two most successful periods for the band were during the late 1960s British blues boom, when they were led by guitarist Peter Green; and from 1975-87, with more pop-orientation, featuring Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The band enjoyed more modest success in the intervening period between 1971 and 1974, with the line-up that included Bob Welch, and also during the 1990s which saw more personnel changes before the return of Nicks and Buckingham in 1997, and more recently, the departure of Christine McVie.

Big Love

“Big Love” was written by Lindsey Buckingham, and was originally going to be part of his third solo album which he began working on in 1985, but the project became a Fleetwood Mac album instead. The song epitomised the stylised production techniques used on the album, with its provocative “oh – ahh” male/female vocal exchange. Though many assumed the female “ahh” to be Stevie Nicks, it was actually Lindsey Buckingham performing both, created by way of his voice being sampled and altered in the studio to mimic that of a woman. The sound was ubiquitous, eventually making the rounds on 1987 episodes of Late Night with David Letterman where David told viewers they were hearing the sounds of CPR.

Since Buckingham left Fleetwood Mac in 1987 (shortly after Tango in the Night was released), the band never performed “Big Love” live until his return in 1997. It was in 1992, on his first solo tour, that Lindsey performed a stripped down guitar-only version of the song. In 1997, he performed it in the same style on Fleetwood Mac’s live album and video The Dance, as well as also appearing on the second volume of Cameron Crowe’s Elizabethtown film soundtrack. Buckingham to this day continues to perform the song on Fleetwood Mac and solo tours, most recently on his tour to support Gift of Screws.

Looking out for love
In the night so still
Oh I’ll build you a kingdom
In that house on the hill

Looking out for love
Big, big love

You said that you love me
And that you always will
Oh you begged me to keep you
In that house on the hill
Looking out for love
Big, big love

I wake up alone
With it all
I wake up
But only to fall

Looking out for love
Big, big love
Just looking out for love
Big, big love

• Audio from the 1997 album, The Dance (Live):

The Chain ~ Fleetwood Mac  

Fleetwood Mac are a British/American rock band formed in 1967, that have experienced a high turnover of personnel and varied levels of success. From the band’s inception through the end of 1974, no incarnation of Fleetwood Mac lasted as long as two years.

The only member present in the band from the very beginning is its namesake drummer Mick Fleetwood. Bassist John McVie, despite his giving part of his name to the band, did not play on their first single nor at their first concerts. Keyboardist Christine McVie has, to date, appeared on all but two albums, either as a member or as a session musician. She also supplied the artwork for the album Kiln House.

The two most successful periods for the band were during the late 1960s British blues boom, when they were led by guitarist Peter Green; and from 1975-87, with more pop-orientation, featuring Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The band enjoyed more modest success in the intervening period between 1971 and 1974, with the line-up that included Bob Welch, and also during the 1990s which saw more personnel changes before the return of Nicks and Buckingham in 1997, and more recently, the departure of Christine McVie.

The Chain

“The Chain” is a song from Fleetwood Mac’s best-selling album Rumours. “The Chain” is unique in being the only song credited to all five members of the Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac lineup: Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, Stevie Nicks; this is partly due to the fact that John McVie and Mick Fleetwood are generally not songwriters. The band has used the song as a signature, citing the lyric, “Never break the chain.”

According to interviews on the writing of Rumours, the final section of “The Chain” — beginning with a bass progression — was created by John McVie and Mick Fleetwood. It seemed like an ending, not a beginning. Stevie Nicks had written the lyrics separately and thought they would be a good match; she and Christine McVie did some reworking to create the first section of the tune. To complete the song, Lindsey Buckingham recycled the intro from an earlier Buckingham/Nicks song – “Lola My Love”, originally released on their eponymous 1973 album. Thanks to its use as a TV theme (for the BBC’s Formula One coverage), the ending bass line is one of the most recognizable in the world, and although not released as a single, it does get air play.

The start of the studio version of this song has, in a very quiet whisper, the word “fuck”. This can only be heard on tracks released on CD. Because of the limited dynamic range, it is not audible on the original vinyl LP, cassette or 8-track releases.

Listen to the wind blow, watch the sun rise

Run in the shadows
Damn your love, damn your lies

And if you don’t love me now
You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying you would never break the chain
And if you don’t love me now
You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying you would never break the chain

Listen to the wind blow, down comes the night

Run in the shadows
Damn your love, damn your lies

Break the silence
Damn the dark, damn the light

And if you don’t love me now
You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying you would never break the chain
And if you don’t love me now
You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying you would never break the chain
And if you don’t love me now
You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying you would never break the chain

Chain…keeps us together
(run into the shadows)
Chain…keeps us together
(run into the shadows)
Chain…keeps us together
(run into the shadows)

• Audio from the 1977 album, Rumours:

Oh Well ~ Fleetwood Mac  

Fleetwood Mac are a British/American rock band formed in 1967, that have experienced a high turnover of personnel and varied levels of success. From the band’s inception through the end of 1974, no incarnation of Fleetwood Mac lasted as long as two years.

The only member present in the band from the very beginning is its namesake drummer Mick Fleetwood. Bassist John McVie, despite his giving part of his name to the band, did not play on their first single nor at their first concerts. Keyboardist Christine McVie has, to date, appeared on all but two albums, either as a member or as a session musician. She also supplied the artwork for the album Kiln House.

The two most successful periods for the band were during the late 1960s British blues boom, when they were led by guitarist Peter Green; and from 1975-87, with more pop-orientation, featuring Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The band enjoyed more modest success in the intervening period between 1971 and 1974, with the line-up that included Bob Welch, and also during the 1990s which saw more personnel changes before the return of Nicks and Buckingham in 1997, and more recently, the departure of Christine McVie.

Oh Well

I can’t help about the shape I’m in
I can’t sing, I ain’t pretty and my legs are thin
But don’t ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to

Oh well

Now, when I talked to God I knew he’d understand
He said, “Stick by me and I’ll be your guiding hand
But don’t ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to”

Oh well