‘Songbird’: The one song that threatens to deride Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’
While it’s easy to see why some albums repeatedly get named among the greatest of all time, you do have to sometimes question whether those records are always perfect from start to finish.
There can be a number of reasons why an album might experience peaks and troughs, whether that’s a song straying too far from the vibe of the rest of the record, a song being positioned in the wrong place in the tracklist, or allowing the least accomplished songwriter in the group to have a bit of time in the spotlight (not naming names).
Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 classic Rumours has quite rightly been held in the highest of esteem since its release, largely down to the fact that across the record, the band managed to create a near-flawless run of generation-defining anthems that have stood the test of time and continue to be appreciated by generations that weren’t even alive when it initially hit the shelves. Yet, does every track stick the landing when the album is listened to in its entirety? One could argue that one particular moment on the record seems somewhat out of place.
Sitting right at the centre of Rumours is ‘Songbird’, one of four tracks on the album written entirely by Christine McVie and featuring the keyboard player on lead vocals as well. It’s a tender ballad that is capable of turning even the most soulless individual into a blubbering mess and often served as the closing number in Fleetwood Mac’s live performances due to its sentimental warmth.
So if it was so successful as a gut-wrenching closer, why was it chosen as the conclusion to the first side of the album and not the overall end? While it would have only been available to listen to on vinyl at its time of release, the digitisation of music means it now sits slap bang in the middle of the album, and when listening to the record in its entirety, it saps all of the vibrant energy felt across the other ten songs out of the complete article.
Having transitioned from being a blues band in their early years to writing some of the greatest pop songs of all time, Fleetwood Mac really struck gold on Rumours, and the dynamism of tracks like ‘Don’t Stop’, ‘The Chain’ and ‘Dreams’ took their popularity to heights they hadn’t reached before. ‘Songbird’ might well be up there as one of their most beloved tracks as well, but in the greater context of the album, it doesn’t live up to the heights of the rest of the record.
Had there been other moments on the album that matched its gentle nature, then it might not seem like such an outlier. With the glistening pop sheen of the rest of the record, however, and the fact that the other songs feel like a celebration of the musicianship and songwriting chemistry that the band had in abundance, having a song so sparse at the album’s core really does threaten to alter the otherwise buoyant production of the rest of the album.
