The Chain - Hidden Harmonies - Deconstructing Fleetwood Mac
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- With the Rumours album turning 45 today, I thought it would be interesting to deconstruct one of the most representative songs by Fleetwood Mac (and one of my all time favorites), The Chain. This analysis is based on the studio recording.
Compared to my other deconstruction video, which was about ABBA, this song features less layers. However, what really catches my attention is the interchangeability of the three singers. The lead vocal - the melody we usually remember and tend to sing along to - is first taken over by Stevie (verse), then by Lindsey (chorus) and in the outro by probably - difficult to hear clearly! - Christine and Lindsey in unison. The members also switch places when it comes to countermelodies and harmonies. Versatility is definitely the secret weapon of this song. Headphones on and enjoy!
All vocals and instrumentals recorded by VEVOnica, except for the royalty-free drum track, found on Wikiloops: www.wikiloops....
No copyright infringement intended, as I do not own, nor did I display, any of the original Fleetwood Mac recordings.
*personal timestamps for the individual harmonies
LEAD VOCALS
Verse Timestamp = 0:30-0:52
Chorus Timestamp = 1:50-2:20
Outro = 3:06 - 3:24
HIGHER VOCALS
Verse Timestamp = 0:56-1:18
Chorus Timestamp = 2:50 - 2:58
Outro Timestamp = 3:26 - 3:40
LOWER VOCALS
Verse Timestamp = 1:22-1:44
Chorus Timestamp = 2:22 - 2:46
OUTRO COUNTERMELODY
Timestamp = 3:42 - 4:00
THANK YOU for this comment this is so helpful
Listen to the wind blow, watch the sun rise
Running in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies
And if you don't love me now
You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying
You would never break the chain (never break the chain)
And if you don't love me now (you don't love me now)
You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying (still hear you saying)
You would never break the chain (never break the chain)
Listen to the wind blow, down comes the night
Running in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies
Break the silence, damn the dark, damn the light
And if you don't love me now
You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying
You would never break the chain (never break the chain)
And if you don't love me now (you don't love me now)
You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying (still hear you saying)
You would never break the chain (never break the chain)
And if you don't love me now (you don't love me now)
You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying (still hear you saying)
You would never break the chain (never break the chain)
Chain keep us together (running in the shadow)
Chain keep us together (running in the shadow)
Chain keep us together (running in the shadow)
Chain keep us together (running in the shadow)
Chain keep us together (running in the shadow)
Chain
Currently rehearsing this for a gig and you have saved my life thank you
omg i’m working on a cover of this song and this video is EXTREMELY helpful! thank you so much for making this! 💗
I have been waiting for someone to make this video for five years and you did not disappoint. Amazingly well done!
It’s wrong
Same
If you listen to the isolated vocals, when they go to the "and if you don't love me now" section, there are at least two tracks of Lindsey's vocal. At least it sounds like they're both him, but they didn't just dupe it, he sang it again to make a fatter vocal. So if you wanted to perform this live, someone (maybe the singer doing Christine's part?) should sing that in unison until their main part comes back in.
Looking forward to more of your videos. Beatles, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, just might be up your alley, too.
Very cool video! Watching this makes me think I can sing Lindsey Buckingham’s part but for some reason when I hear the actual song it sounds higher. Am I hearing something wrong?
Do you have any plans on doing more songs? Do you have any other social media sites?
Thank you- I had wondered literally for years if that was Christine singing that "still hear you saying" high part in the chorus, and could never quite make out what she was saying until you isolated it. Well done!
Sounds great, but you end your first line of Stevie on a C (so on the word 'rise'), which, together with the other vocals, makes it into a C major chord. I'm pretty sure that Stevie ends on a B, making it an E minor chord. Both sound nice, but if you want to give an exact rendition, I'm pretty sure you should sing a B note there.
Are Stevie's, Lindsey's, and Christine's vocals separated by an octave in the harmonies, or are they in different keys?
Thank you this is very handy. My only comment is I would say that the lead part on the verse is technically the one that Lindsay is singing. Because he’s also singing lead on the Chorus, this makes the most sense. And if you remove the other parts on the verse and sing them alone by themselves they wouldn’t stand up as the main melody line. IMO. Thank you for doing this!!
Erm seek a better singer. No disrespect meant.
Listen to the wind blow, watch the sun rise
Running in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies
And if you don't love me now
You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying
You would never break the chain (never break the chain)
And if you don't love me now (you don't love me now)
You will never love me again
I can still hear you saying (still hear you saying)
You would never break the chain (never break the chain)
Wow!!!! Really appreciate this breakdown because they are really close harmonies to be able to work ut. You did a GREAT job and saved me a lot of work and headaches! Thankyou!
I can agree, saved me the stress and sitting at a piano for a few hours. :)
Perfect! This is exactly how it should be done! Thanks so much.
amazing.... I'm actually doing a cover myself and it was nice to confront your harmonies with mine and they were pretty much all the same actually... congrats... you got yourself a sub
Amazing thankyou, this is an excellent resource
Amazing! Sounds fantastic. Can I use these vocals for a cover? I´ll give you credits :)
Thank you so much for this. I can usually pick out the harmonies but this song is blended so well it can be hard.
This is a well done instructional video - thank you! There are many FM songs where it is difficult to tell which parts are being sung by Christine, Lindsey, and Stevie (except when Christine goes into the top of her range). For a band that covers this, I'm not sure it matters who did which part, as long as your band's lead vocalist can have enough continuity between when they sing alone, and whatever line they have to handle during the 3-part harmonies.
AMAZING VIDEO AND GREAT VOICE. I just want to add one thing on the technical side. Forgive me if I'm overstepping or hearing things incorrectly but I think you kept the same volume throughout the different voices. But sounds panned to the right and left tend to pop more and draw all the focus from the center. So it could sound better if you turned down the right and left voices just a tad bit. Such a cool video tho.
Outstanding 👏 would love to hear some CSN and Eagles
I think the lead vocal in the first line of the verse stay on G , ( Eminor ) in the second line she move to G# after one G , which fits in the E chord . It s subtle but often like that with talented bands like this . Great job !..
Fantastic. Thank you! Any chance you could pair with Keyboard and isolate that as well?
Amazing breakdown. You've saved me and a ton of bandmates a lot of time, and your vocals are impeccable. A few observations we've made during rehearsals for any other folks looking to perform this live:
1. Like @johnnyvlee said further down the comments, there is an overdub on "And if you don't love [...] never love me again". It sounds like Lindsey twice over but there's an odd difference in the intonations of the first and last few words in the phrase, so it could even be Stevie, so it can make sense to have your 'Lindsey' and 'Stevie' vocalists sing that in unison before splitting off into the melody and countermelody at "I can still..."
2. My band wanted to do the call and response during the chorus in an unbroken way, so what we did was have the 'Christine' vocalist (me, in this case) do the "you don't love me now" response, jump up to the high "Stiiiiiill hear you sayiiiing", then come back down for "never break the chain". It's a bit juryrigged but there's just enough space between those different parts to make it work, assuming you have the will and range!
This is very helpful, can you do more Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles 😀
Thanks . Great job. I could never work out the high harmonies.
Thanks for this. We are working on Vocal harmonies and THIS one is ONE OF THEM! We are a cover band in Oregon. THANK YOU!
If there's one thing I really love, it's VOCAL HARMONY! It's wonderful, showing how all the parts work and also how complete harmony works!
And it's worth highlighting the singer's beautiful voice and range!
congratulations on the work! And keep showing this deconstruction of harmonies!
Could you make Say You Love Me by Fleetwood Mac??
Great thanks!
Beautiful voice and fantastic demonstration ❤️
This is gold ❤
Except Lindsey is definitely singing lead not Stevie
This was a fantastic resource for my cover band and myself. Tysm!!!
Thank you very much for that
5:07
That is interesting to see the break down.
thank you!
Very well thought out! Thank you for your Deconstructed parts of popular songs..
god bless your soul for this. i really needed this song dissected
you rock ! 🤟
thank you!
oh my god, this was beauty
I've always liked the chain, its a song that owes as much to the personal dynamics of the band members, as it does their musical talents. would you consider having a look at the pretender by the foo fighters? thats a song that to me in parts is two different songs overlaid with each other.
Yes
Please do more of these!
Wow, amazingly done.
This is fantastic
Great video! Keep posting!!
Please add more!!
Thank you so much for this!❤
Thank you! You just saved me hours of work. This is so great xx
Love your videos! Can you please consider making something from The Cure? Maybe "High" from Wish album. Great melodies you will find there...
I've noticed the comments for your efforts are about 80% "Wow! Amazing!", 18% "That was good. Now do my favorite song", and 2% of "You hit the wrong note in that one part of the song". Put me in the first 80%, as I love your renditions.
1:22
1:50
Thankyou VEVOnica. Each of the one of you ones. Really helpful
Thank you for sharing! Excellent 👏
maybe do carpet man by the Fifth Dimension?
Can you do a breakdown of edge of seventeen by Stevie nicks?
You really are incredible. Love this channel !
This is exactly what I was looking for
Amazing work!!!
Utterly brilliant.
Thank you so much!!
✅✅ you’re so talented!!
Gracias... desde Chile, sudamérica
Thanks for this!
thank you so much!
bravo 👏👏👏 más videos por favor!
0:56 verse
2:51 chorus
3:10 outro
It is wrong. Stevie Voice and Lindsey Voice are the opposite of The ones in the video.
It is right the way she sings it, listen carefully.
This is all wrong. Stevie doesn’t sing the lead on this. Lindsey does the lead vocal.