Fleetwood Mac’s 11th studio album, 1977’s Rumours, is widely considered one of the greatest ever—a multi-platinum, immaculately produced blockbuster that encapsulates the drama, both musical and interpersonal, that made this band so fascinating. But much like The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which set aside the non-LP singles “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever,” Rumours is a perfect album that could have been even better—if only they’d used all the classic material in their repertoire.
The leftover in question is “Silver Springs,” a shimmering ballad written by Stevie Nicks and earmarked for that timeless record. And this song was especially important to the singer, who’d gifted the publishing rights to her mother, Barbara. But since nothing is easy in Fleetwood Mac world, “Silver Springs” became the launching pad for both turmoil and redemption within their camp—helping to break apart the classic lineup and, ultimately, glue it back together.
Even the writing itself was fueled by tension. Nicks wrote the lyrics about the end of her relationship with bandmate Lindsey Buckingham, plucking the title while traveling through Maryland and spotting “Silver Spring” on a freeway sign. Those words seemed to conjure some idyllic dreamland, symbolizing what her romance with Buckingham could have been. (On the other hand, the guitarist wrote about their fractured love on the snarling hit single “Go Your Own Way.”)
Despite being an emotional centerpiece of the Rumours sessions, the nearly six-minute “Silver Springs” didn’t make the cut—a divisive decision that had lasting ripple effects for these rock gods. In a 1991 BBC interview, Nicks vividly recalls the moment she was told the song’s fate: “[I] walked to the huge Record Plant [studio] parking lot [in Sausalito, California], and [drummer/co-founder Mick Fleetwood] said, ‘I’m taking Silver Springs off the record,’” she explains. “And, of course, my first reaction was, ‘Why?’ And he said, ‘There’s a lot of reasons, but because basically it’s just too long. And we think that there’s another of vour songs that’s better, so that’s what we want to do.’ Before I started to get upset about ‘Silver Springs, I said, ‘What other song?’ And he said a song called ‘I Don’t Want to Know.’ And I said, ‘But I don’t want that song on this record.’ And he said, ‘Well, then don’t sing it.’”
Nicks remembers “[screaming] bloody murder” and saying “probably…every horrifyingly mean thing you could possibly say to another human being” before she re-entered the studio to plead her case. She says she was given a clear choice: either sing “I Don’t Want to Know,” wind up with only two songs on the album, or “take a hike.” So she relented, and “Silver Springs”—in the ultimate twist—wound up as the B-side to “Go Your Own Way,” a Top 10 single in the U.S.
Given all the friction in Fleetwood Mac, it’s surprising that the band’s beloved quintet lineup—Nicks, Buckingham, Fleetwood, bassist John McVie, singer-keyboardist Christine McVie—stayed together as long as they did for their initial run, recording three more albums after Rumours: 1979’s Tusk, 1982’s Mirage, and 1987’s Tango in the Night. But the “Silver Springs” incident had ripple effects: While Nicks contributed to the first post-Buckingham album, 1990’s Behind the Mask, she eventually quit the band following an argument over whether she could include “Silver Springs” on her 1991 solo compilation Timespace — The Best of Stevie Nicks.
In her BBC interview, Nicks remembers tracking down Fleetwood’s manager and passing along her request. “I said, ‘I want ‘Silver Springs,’” she says. “It belongs to my mother.’ My mom won’t take anything from me. The only thing she will take from me is a gift of song, and so that’s why I gave her this song—because I wanted to give her some money to do some things she’d wanted to do for a long time…When Timespace came around, it didn’t occur to me that they wouldn’t let me have [the song] back…I talked to his manager and said, ‘You find Mick, and you tell him that if I don’t have those tapes by Monday, I am no longer a member of Fleetwood Mac.’” They apparently never came: “Silver Springs” did not appear on Timespace—but it was released on the band’s 1992 box set, 25 Years — The Chain and, years later, on reissues of Rumours, often slotted in the primary track list.)
But the song wouldn’t wither—mostly because Nicks refused to let it. When the classic lineup reunited for their 1997 tour (and subsequent live album/MTV special), The Dance, “Silver Springs” gained new life. The performance featured in the film is pure theater, channeling all the heartbreak that animated the track’s backstory—and its winding journey over the past two decades. The piece begins gently, with Nicks belting over Christine’s elegant piano chords and Buckingham’s chiming acoustic guitar, but it peaks in the sublime final two minutes, as Nicks and Buckingham exchange smoldering, almost possessed glances during the lines “I’ll follow you down ’til the sound of my voice will haunt you / You’ll never get away from the sound of the woman that loved you.”
“In six weeks of rehearsal, it was never like that,” Nicks told The Arizona Republic that year, marveling at the take included on The Dance. “Only on Friday night did we let it go into something deeper. When we went on Friday, I knew we’d bring it out in case it was the last thing we’d ever do. The other shows were really, really good, but they weren’t the show I wanted to leave behind. This show was.” The magic was still there: The Dance topped the Billboard 200, and the live version of “Silver Springs” was released as a single, (finally) becoming a minor hit of its own and earning a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocals.
Nicks told The Arizona Republic that she wrote “Silver Springs” as a sort of revenge against Buckingham: “I’m so angry with you. You will listen to me on the radio for the rest of your life, and it will bug you. I hope it bugs you.” Years later, the specifics of that angst are irrelevant. But the core emotion refuses to cede its grip—much like the songwriter who never stopped fighting for her art.
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