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==Composition== ===Lyrics=== Fleetwood Mac's main songwriters—Buckingham, Christine McVie, and Nicks—worked individually on songs but sometimes shared lyrics. "The Chain" is the only track on which all members, including Fleetwood and John McVie, collaborated. All songs on ''Rumours'' concern personal, often troubled relationships.<ref name=dvda/> According to Christine McVie, the fact that the lyricists were focusing on the various separations became apparent to the band only in hindsight.<ref name=dvd6>{{harvnb|''Classic Albums''|2004|loc=06:00–06:30}}</ref> "You Make Loving Fun" is about her boyfriend, Fleetwood Mac's lighting director, whom she dated after splitting from John.<ref name=min7/> Nicks' "Dreams" details a breakup and has a hopeful message, while Buckingham's similar effort in "Go Your Own Way" is more pessimistic.<ref>{{harvnb|''Classic Albums''|2004|loc=27:50–28:10}}</ref> After a short fling with a New England woman, he was inspired to write "Never Going Back Again", a song about the illusion of thinking that sadness will never occur again once content with life.<ref name=dvda/> {{Listen | filename = Fmacstop.ogg | title = "Don't Stop" | description = The lyrics of "Don't Stop" are about having an optimistic outlook on life. Inspired by the [[triple step]], the song contains music from both normal and [[prepared piano]]s.<ref name=dvda/> }} "Don't Stop", written by Christine McVie, is a song about optimism. She noted that Buckingham helped her craft the verses because their personal sensibilities overlapped.<ref name=dvda/> McVie's next track, "Songbird", features more introspective lyrics about "nobody and everybody" in the form of "a little prayer".<ref>{{harvnb|''Classic Albums''|2004|loc=42:20–42:35}}</ref> "Oh Daddy", the last McVie song on the album, was written about Fleetwood and his wife [[Jenny Boyd]], who had just got back together.<ref name=Caillat>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/makingrumoursins00cail |url-access=registration |title=Making Rumours: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album |page=xiv, 74 |first1=Ken |last1=Caillat |first2=Steve |last2=Stiefel |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |date=5 March 2012 |access-date=19 March 2013 |isbn=9781118282366}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/penguin/boyd.htm |title=Jenny Boyd |first1=Martin |last1=Adelson |first2=Lisa |last2=Adelson |publisher=fleetwoodmac.net |access-date=19 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130312014805/http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/penguin/boyd.htm |archive-date=12 March 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780671734404 |url-access= registration |quote= mick fleetwood jenny remarried 1976. |title=Musicians in Tune |first1=Jenny |last1=Boyd |first2=Holly |last2=George-Warren |publisher=Simon & Schuster |date=1 May 1992 |access-date=19 March 2013 |isbn=9780671734404}}</ref> The band's nickname for Fleetwood was "the Big Daddy".<ref name=dvda/> McVie commented that the writing is slightly sarcastic and focuses on the drummer's direction for Fleetwood Mac, which always turned out to be right. Nicks' song "Gold Dust Woman" is inspired by Los Angeles and the hardship encountered in such a city.<ref name=dvda>{{cite video |people=Fleetwood Mac |title=Making of Rumours |medium=DVD-Audio (''Rumours'') |publisher=[[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros.]] |year=2001}}</ref> After struggling with the rock lifestyle, Nicks became addicted to cocaine; the lyrics address her belief in "keeping going".<ref name=dvd28>{{harvnb|''Classic Albums''|2004|loc=28:25–28:55}}</ref> ===Music=== Featuring a [[soft rock]] and [[pop rock]] sound,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/9827561/Fleetwood-Macs-Rumours-Why-the-under-30s-still-love-it.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/9827561/Fleetwood-Macs-Rumours-Why-the-under-30s-still-love-it.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Fleetwood Mac's Rumours: Why the under-30s still love it |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=27 January 2013 |access-date=25 February 2016 |author=Lachno, James}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/rumours-pop-rock-perfection-1.1043324 |title='Rumours' – pop-rock perfection |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |date=1 February 2013 |access-date=25 February 2016 |author=Boyd, Brian |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303054438/http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/rumours-pop-rock-perfection-1.1043324 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Rumours'' is built around a mix of acoustic and electric instrumentation. Buckingham's guitar work and Christine McVie's use of [[Fender Musical Instruments Corporation|Fender]] [[Rhodes piano]] or [[Hammond B-3 organ]] are present on all but two tracks. The record often includes [[stress (music)|stressed]] drum sounds and distinctive percussion such as [[conga]]s and [[maraca]]s. It opens with "Second Hand News", originally an acoustic demo titled "Strummer". After hearing [[Bee Gees]]' "[[Jive Talkin']]", Buckingham and co-producer Dashut built up the song with four audio tracks of electric guitar and the use of chair percussion to evoke [[Celtic rock]]. "Dreams" includes "ethereal spaces" and a recurring two [[note (music)|note]] pattern on the bass guitar.<ref name=dvda/> Nicks wrote the song in an afternoon and led the vocals, while the band played around her. The third track on ''Rumours'', "Never Going Back Again", began as "Brushes", a simple acoustic guitar tune played by Buckingham, with snare rolls by Fleetwood using [[percussion mallet#Brushes|brushes]]; the band added vocals and further instrumental audio tracks to make it more layered.<ref>Caillat 2012, [https://books.google.com/books?id=jN-CKaBhtmEC&pg=PA144 pp. 144–145.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140103132305/https://books.google.com/books?id=jN-CKaBhtmEC&pg=PA144 |date=3 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Walsh|first=Christopher|date=23 December 2000|title=Surround-Sound Demonstrations Impress Confab Attendees|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|page=44|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TxEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44}}</ref> Inspired by triple step [[step pattern|dancing patterns]], "Don't Stop" includes both [[acoustic piano|conventional acoustic]] and [[tack piano]]. In the latter instrument, nails are placed on the points where the hammers hit the strings, producing a more percussive sound. "Go Your Own Way" is more guitar-oriented and has a [[four-to-the-floor]] dance beat influenced by [[The Rolling Stones]]' "[[Street Fighting Man]]". The album's pace slows down with "Songbird", conceived solely by Christine McVie using a nine-foot [[Steinway & Sons|Steinway]] piano.<ref name=dvda/> {{Listen | filename = GDWFMAC.ogg | title = "Gold Dust Woman" | description = "Gold Dust Woman" is influenced by jazz and features a dobro.<ref name=dvda/> The song's lyrics focus on Nicks' struggle with cocaine addiction.<ref name="dvd28"/> | help = no }} Side two of ''Rumours'' begins with "The Chain", one of the record's most complicated compositions. A Christine McVie demo, "Keep Me There",<ref name=dvda/> and a Nicks song were re-cut in the studio and were heavily edited to form parts of the track.<ref>{{harvnb|''Classic Albums''|2004|loc=54:10–55:40}}</ref> The whole of the band crafted the rest using an approach akin to creating a [[film score]]; John McVie provided a prominent solo using a [[fretless]] bass guitar, which marked a speeding up in tempo and the start of the song's final third. Inspired by [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]], "You Make Loving Fun" has a simpler composition and features a [[clavinet]], a special type of keyboard instrument, while the rhythm section plays interlocking notes and beats. The ninth track on ''Rumours'', "I Don't Want to Know", makes use of a [[twelve string guitar]] and harmonising vocals. Influenced by the music of [[Buddy Holly]], Buckingham and Nicks created it in 1974 before they were in Fleetwood Mac. "Oh Daddy" was crafted spontaneously and includes improvised bass guitar patterns from John McVie and keyboard blips from Christine McVie. The album ends with "Gold Dust Woman", a song inspired by [[free jazz]], which has music from a [[harpsichord]], a [[Fender Stratocaster]] guitar, and a [[dobro]], an acoustic guitar whose sound is produced by one or more metal cones.<ref name=dvda/>
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