The Chain

"The Chain" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on their 1977 album '' Rumours''. It is the only song from the album with writing credits for all five band members (Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood).

"The Chain" was created from combinations of several previously rejected materials, including compositions from Buckingham, Nicks, and McVie. The song was assembled, often manually by splicing tapes with a razor blade, at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California, with engineers Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut.

Following the critical and commercial success of ''Rumours'', "The Chain" has become a staple of the band's live shows, typically the opening song. It was featured as the opening track on '' The Dance'', a 1997 live concert CD/DVD release, as well as several of the band's greatest hits compilations. The song has attained particular fame in the United Kingdom, where the instrumental section has been used as the theme tune for the BBC and Channel 4's television and radio coverage of Formula One.

Background

According to interviews on the writing of ''Rumours'', the final section of "The Chain" (beginning with a bass progression) was created by John McVie and Mick Fleetwood. "The Chain" began as a Christine McVie song, titled "Keep Me There", which was the first track Fleetwood Mac recorded for ''Rumours''. Initial tracking took place on 2 February 1976, with Fleetwood on drums, John McVie on an Alembic bass, Christine McVie on organ, and Buckingham on a Fender Stratocaster. Ten microphones were placed around Fleetwood's drums, two were used to capture the bass guitar and the organ, and another three microphones captured Buckingham's guitar amplifiers. After the band rehearsed the song twice, Ken Caillat, who served as the producer for ''Rumours'', recorded the band's third run-through. In the middle of this take, John McVie played the bassline that was ultimately used in the final version of "The Chain". The ending section was the only part from the original recording that the band kept for "The Chain". McVie recorded a vocal take that session and replaced it with a new vocal the following day.

When Fleetwood Mac reworked "Keep Me There" into "The Chain", they removed the blues-style motif originally found on the verses and retained the chord progression. Lindsey Buckingham recycled the intro of an earlier song from a duet with Nicks, "Lola (My Love)", originally released on their self-titled 1973 album. During the verses, Buckingham instructed Fleetwood to play a straight quarter note pattern on the kick drum. The Dobro, a type of resonator guitar, supplied the verse riff.

Stevie Nicks had written the lyrics separately, which were originally part of an entirely different song that included the words "if you don't love me now, you will never love me again". Buckingham asked Nicks to donate these lyrics for the verses, which she agreed to. Nicks and Christine McVie then reworked lyrics to create the first section of the tune. Nicks' lyrics referenced the breakup of her relationship with Buckingham, a theme of many of Nicks' and Buckingham's lyrics on ''Rumours''.

Due to the spliced nature of the record (the drums and guitar were the only instruments recorded in each other's company) and its sporadic composition and assembly from different rejected songs, "The Chain" is one of only a few Fleetwood Mac songs whose authorship is credited to all members of the band at the time. Nicks maintained that "The Chain" was primarily her song and claimed ownership of the melody and a large portion of the lyrics. In an interview with Paul Zollo, Buckingham questioned whether Fleetwood contributed significantly to the song, but acknowledged that all five members nonetheless received writing credits. The finished song has a basic rock structure with two distinct portions: the main verse and chorus, and the outro. Influences of hard rock, folk, and country are also present.

Release and reception

"The Chain" has received favourable reviews from music critics. ''The Guardian'' and ''Paste'' ranked the song number ten and number one, respectively, on their lists of the 30 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs. ''Billboard'' placed the song sixth out of eleven on its list ranking every track on ''Rumours''. They deemed the song a cornerstone of Fleetwood Mac's discography and highlighted the "heartbeat-like bass drum" and John McVie's bass playing during the coda.

In 1997, Fleetwood Mac released a live album called '' The Dance'', which featured the reunion of the ''Rumours''-era Fleetwood Mac members. That album's rendition of "The Chain" reached number 30 on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Additionally, the studio version began appearing on the British charts in 2009, where it debuted at number 94. Two years later, the song achieved a new peak position of number 81. Since then, "The Chain" has returned to the British charts on several occasions; in 2025, it surpassed its old peak position by reaching number 76. The song has been certified quadruple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales and streams of over 2,400,000 units.

Personnel

*Lindsey Buckingham – electric guitar, dobro, vocals
*Stevie Nicks – vocals
*Christine McVie – harmonium, Hammond organ, vocals
*John McVie – fretless bass guitar
*Mick Fleetwood – drums, tambourine

Charts

''The Dance'' version

Original version

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Other media

The BBC's Formula One coverage used the ending bass line as a theme tune from 1978 until 1996 and again from 2009 to 2015, thus making the song highly recognisable in the United Kingdom. On 29 March 2009, the song re-entered the UK Chart at number 94 through downloads, following confirmation from the BBC that it would be reintroduced, the BBC having regained broadcasting rights from ITV. On 20 March 2011, "The Chain" peaked higher at number 81 in the UK chart following a campaign on Facebook to try to get the song to number 1 for the start of the 2011 Formula One season. Excerpts from The Chain were also used in the official trailer for the film ''F1'' (2025), a film based around Formula One.

In the 2017 Marvel Studios film, ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2'', director James Gunn has said that "The Chain" was "most deeply embedded into the fibers of the film". "The Chain" was also used as the closing song to the first-season episode "We Gull Way Back" of the HBO Max series ''Our Flag Means Death'', and featured prominently in the 2017 film ''I, Tonya''.

Tantric cover

In 2004 the American alternative rock band Tantric released their cover of "The Chain" as the second single from their second album titled '' After We Go'' and peaked at number 36 on the US Mainstream Rock chart for the week of May 15, 2004.

Background and recording

Tantric initially completed recording their second album ''After We Go'' after two extensive recording sessions in late 2003, believing they had delivered a finished product they turned in their final version to their label. However, Maverick Records was not entirely satisfied with it and insisted that the band return to the studio for a third session to record at least three more songs. This final round of recording resulted in more tracks, including the eventual singles " Hey Now" and "The Chain."

Lead singer Hugo Ferreira later reflected on the difficult process, stating, "This record was a long and painful process to make. We were under a lot of pressure from our label to spit something out." As part of the label's demands, Tantric was required to include a cover song on the album, though no specific song was suggested. Instead of spending time deliberating, the band decided to make the selection completely random—by tuning in to a classic rock radio station and picking the first song that played. That song happened to be Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain."

Guitarist Todd Whitener recalled the gamble in an interview with the ''Houston Chronicle'' saying, "This could be a very bad thing by taking this approach." He explained that the band had trouble agreeing on a song where all four members had only positive things to say, so they let fate decide. Fortunately, they all felt that "The Chain" could be molded into their sound.

Tantric's cover of "The Chain" was produced by long-time Alice in Chains producer Toby Wright.

Appearances

Tantric's cover of the song was used as the theme song for the 2004 HBO Documentary series '' Family Bonds''.

Charts

Three Days Grace cover

The song was recorded by the Canadian rock band Three Days Grace, released from their EP, '' Lost in You''. It was released on 15 March 2011. The song peaked at number 45 on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart.

Charts

Evanescence cover

American rock band Evanescence released a cover version of the song. The song was released as a standalone digital download on 22 November 2019 by BMG. (This cover version had been used to promote the Xbox game ''Gears 5'' – part of the ''Gears of War'' franchise – which was released in early September 2019.)

Background

Amy Lee, the lead vocalist of Evanescence, said: "This cover was so fun to make. We love Fleetwood Mac and wanted to paint a dark and epic picture with our take on 'The Chain'. The lyrics make me feel the power of standing together against great forces trying to pull us apart, perhaps even from the inside. I really wanted to drive that home in our version, and even made everyone in the band sing by the end of it! We're beyond excited to share this with our fans and I'm really looking forward to playing it live."

Music video

An official music video to accompany the release of "The Chain" was first released onto YouTube on 9 January 2020.

Track listing

Charts

Release history

References

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chain, The
1977 songs
Fleetwood Mac songs
Songs written by Christine McVie
Songs written by Mick Fleetwood
Songs written by Lindsey Buckingham
Songs written by John McVie
Songs written by Stevie Nicks
1997 singles
Song recordings produced by Ken Caillat
Song recordings produced by Richard Dashut
Live singles
Warner Records singles
Maverick Records singles
BMG Rights Management singles
Island Records singles
Tantric (band) songs
2004 singles
Songs about heartache
Sports television theme songs
Breakup songs