The Fleetwood Mac song that “never made it anywhere”
Say You Will came at a tricky time in the career of Fleetwood Mac. For the first time, they found themselves without Christine McVie, whose presence, though often understated, played a pivotal role in the band. Despite their efforts to carry on without her, Fleetwood Mac ultimately struggled to fill the void left by McVie, resulting in a less-than-stellar response to Say You Will.
Although Say You Will achieved moderate success commercially, it fell short compared to the monumental records of their prime, namely Rumours and Tusk. A considerable portion of the songs contributed by Nicks to the album had origins as remnants from previous projects, a factor evident in the final product. Aside from the titular track, however, many songs failed to command the spotlight.
While not every track may stand out, the album has hidden gems, such as the enchanting ‘Thrown Down’, which has garnered particular acclaim. According to reports, Nicks had intended for ‘Thrown Down’ to sit on her seventh solo album, Trouble in Shangri-La, but it didn’t make the final cut. Instead, she worked with Lindsey Buckingham to make it even better than its earlier versions.
“There’s a song on [Say You Will] called ‘Thrown Down’ that I think [Nicks] tried about three different times with three different producers and never made it anywhere,” Buckingham explained. “It was supposed to go on a solo album. It was just obvious to me it needed a guitar riff in the chorus. It was a fairly simple thing, for some reason. There seems to be an understanding between us as to what to do.”
In true Nicks fashion, the song was inspired by her relationship with Buckingham, a theme which ran through other album highlights like its titular track. As she explained: “‘Thrown Down’ is about Lindsey, but I wrote that around the time of The Dance tour in 1997,” she recalled. “Let’s just say he continues to be a well of inspiration, which is terrific.”
Similarly, in ‘Say You Will’, Nicks seemingly alludes to Buckingham as a symbolic gesture seeking to revive their relationship. However, it was also the Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval who served as her muse: “Everybody’s experienced it – when you like somebody, it makes you a different person. It changes you, and it changes you in a minute,” Nicks told Songwriter Magazine in 2003.
Adding: “But that song is not just about Lindsey. It’s about a movie I saw about Arturo Sandoval, the trumpet player. I loved this movie, and I just loved the way that through all the pain and separation, they managed to do music and stay happy and keep love alive, and dancing and rhythm and music, how healing it was. That was really my inspiration for that song. The chorus was written first, then I went back to write the verses. It was initially inspired by that movie.”
Revisit the song below.
