It’s no secret that Fleetwood Mac has had its share of trouble behind the scenes. Many of these issues revolved around the relationships between band members. However, sometimes the band had creative disagreements. Stevie Nicks was at odds with the rest of Fleetwood Mac on “Dreams”, a song that later became one of their biggest hits.
Stevie Nicks begged Fleetwood Mac to record ‘Dreams’
“Dreams” is a 1977 Fleetwood Mac song written by Stevie Nicks and released on their album Rumors. It’s one of the band’s most popular songs and it remains relevant today, as it recently went viral thanks to a fantastic video about skateboarding and cranberry juice.
Nicks wrote “Dreams” during a recording session for Rumors. In a 2005 interview with Blender, the singer said she wrote the song in “about 10 minutes” around a minimal set of chords.
“I sat on the bed with my keyboard in front of me,” Nicks explained. “I found a drum pattern, turned on my little cassette player and wrote ‘Dreams’ in about 10 minutes. Right away, I liked doing something with a dance beat because it made me feel a bit unusual.
When she showed it to the rest of her bandmates, they weren’t thrilled. However, Nicks begged Fleetwood Mac to at least try.
“They weren’t mad about it,” Nicks said. “But I said, ‘Please! Please record this song, at least give it a try. Because the way I play sometimes… you really have to listen.
Lindsey Buckingham rearranged the song to make it work
When recording from Rumors, Buckingham and Nicks have faced an on/off relationship that has seen them fight often. However, the guitarist could still put his personal feelings aside and work on “Dreams” to make Stevie Nicks’ song the best it can be. Christine McVie said she found the track “boring” when Nicks first showed it to her, but Buckingham’s rearrangement saved it.
“When Stevie first played it for me on the piano, it only had three chords and one note in the left hand,” McVie told Blender. “I thought, ‘That’s really boring,’ but Lindsey’s genius kicked in and he fashioned three sections out of identical chords, making each section sound completely different. He gave the impression that there was a common thread in all of this.
How did ‘Dreams’ do on the charts?
“Dreams” was released as the second single for Rumors after “Go your way”. “Dreams” topped “Go Your Own Way” on the charts as it peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It’s still their only No. 1 hit on the Billboard charts, so Stevie Nicks was justified in pushing “Dreams” on her bandmates.
Rumors is also their most successful and popular album. It reached number one on the charts in several countries and sold over 40 million copies. “Dreams” being so popular, fans always want to hear it when they see Nicks in concert. Although it got repetitive, Nicks never got tired of performing this song.
“Sometimes you can get tired of singing a certain song over and over again,” she explained. “But I’ve never taken the stage, either with Fleetwood Mac or in my solo shows, without singing ‘Dreams’. I don’t think I could.