Silver Springs

Every fall, I start my annual rerun of Fleetwood Mac's discography. Whenever I get to the point where I hear the track Silver Springs, I always take a moment to appreciate its extensive backstory, which has cemented it as one of the band's most iconic and beloved songs.

Silver Springs was written by Stevie Nicks during recording sessions for the album Rumors, which was released in 1977. Although she wanted it to be a part of the album, it was instead released as a B-side to the lead single, "Go Your Own Way." It was never a part of the album, but the band performed it on and off during the 1977 Rumors tour.

This song was written at the end of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham's relationship, which is heavily documented and seen as a motif throughout the entire Rumors album. It is called "Silver Springs," after a scenic town "Silver Spring" in Maryland that Nicks once saw on a road trip with her mother. In the song, she writes about how she and Buckingham could have been a silver spring (perfect, scenic), but the relationship instead fell apart.

The whole band was famously known to be experiencing heartbreak and chaos throughout the writing of Rumors. Christine McVie, the band's keyboard/vocalist, and John McVie, the band's bassist, were in the midst of a divorce, Nicks and Buckingham were ending their relationship, and drummer Mick Fleetwood was going through his own issues with the discovery that his wife was having an affair. Along with this, the entire band was abusing drugs heavily, which added to the tension and severity of the issues that were going on. Rumors went on to be Fleetwood Mac's most iconic and successful album, yet the track Silver Springs still hadn't gotten the recognition it deserved.

It wasn't until 20 years later, in 1997, that this song became what it is today. The band reunited for their live album called The Dance, and on their track list, they included the song "Silver Springs."

They didn't know that this would become their most famous live performance. The song contains lyrics directed at Buckingham, like "Time cast a spell on you, but you won't forget me/ I know I could have loved you, but you would not let me" and "You'll never get away from the sound of a woman that loved you/ was I just a fool?" These lyrics took on a new life, being sung 20 years later. The emotions ran high as Nicks and Buckingham performed, as though all of the emotions they had bottled up over the past 20 years had been released all at once.

Today, people see the song as many different things. Some call it a hex or a curse that Nicks has placed over Buckingham, as he will never get away from the song or from the presence of Nicks herself. Others see it as the universal song of heartbreak and betrayal. I see it as Stevie Nicks being the genius that she is (and she was right; it should have been on Rumors.)