Fleetwood Mac | Take It Easy

A song that features the word ‘get’ or ‘over’ in its lyrics. That is what the estimable Jim is inviting us to play for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, as his post Get Over It Day tells us. Yes, this is one of those days so beloved of the Americans, but as this one encourages people to let go of something which is causing them distress and move on in their lives it has, to my mind, much more merit than some of the others. It appears that we have already missed National Fart Day (5th February) but I’m looking forward to the challenge for National Sock Day (4th December). How about it, Jim?

Anyway, back to today. Eschewing the obvious – such as the Fab Four’s Get Back – I first thought about trying for something with both words in its title, but soon realised that this might be trying to be too clever, and I don’t really do clever, do I! So I have decided to go for just one of the words as a title, although the other does make an appearance in the lyrics: the clue as to which one is in my title too.

I’m playing you two lovely songs, and then throwing in a bit of fun to close with – you might need to be as old as me to remember that one! I’m leading with a gorgeous song by Miranda Lambert, one of many in her catalogue:

And as this is SLS and I’m a good boy playing by the guidelines here are the lyrics:

Weather man said it’s gonna snowBy now I should be used to the coldMid-February shouldn’t be so scary

It was only DecemberI still remember the presents, the tree, you and me

But you went awayHow dare you?I’ll miss youThey say I’ll be okay

But I’m not going to ever get over you

Living alone here in this placeI think of you, and I’m not afraid

Your favorite records make me feel better‘Cause you sing along

With every songI know you didn’t mean to give them to meBut you went awayHow dare you?

I’ll miss you

They say I’ll be okay

But I’m not going to ever get over you

It really sinks in, you know, when I see it in stone‘Cause you went awayHow dare you?I’ll miss youThey say I’ll be okayBut I’m not going to ever get over you

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Miranda Lambert / Blake Shelton

You can really feel the hurt and anger in those, can’t you, though the video adds in the touch that the departure was of the mortal kind. Having self-released an eponymous album in 2001 Miranda Lambert moved to mainstream labels for her future records. Over You is a track on her fourth of these, Four The Record (see what she did there?), which came out in November 2011 and reached #1 in the US Country Albums chart, #3 in the main Billboard listings, #12 in Canada and #5 in the UK Country Albums chart (yes, there is such a thing!). Looking at the enormously long list of people who contributed to the album, either as singers or musicians – or both – it is a veritable ‘who’s who’ of modern day country music. One of those was Blake Shelton, who co-wrote this song with Miranda. They had been dating since 2006 and were married in May 2011, and I’m guessing that this song was written around that time, as the album was recorded between August and October that year. It seems a slightly strange set of lyrics to be writing with the guy you have been with for five years and have just married, but maybe they were storing it up for later: they announced their intention to divorce in July 2015 and Miranda has since gone on to remarry, with a New York City police officer. This track was released as a single in January 2012 and made #35 in the US, #52 in Canada, and topped the Country charts in both countries. I rather like the song, and the video is lovely.

For today’s second track I’m going more mainstream. You might have heard of this band:

As the video shows, Over My Head was a track on the eponymous album released by Fleetwood Mac in July 1975, their first record after Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks had joined the band. The album peaked at #23 in the UK, but not until November 1976, and made #1 in the US, just a brief 58 weeks after entering the chart! Odd that it was kind of a sleeper in both countries, but it went on to make up for that in sales terms: 7x Platinum in the US for 7m sales, and Gold in the UK and Platinum in Canada, for 100k in each case. This song is one of four that Christine McVie wrote for the album, as well as a co-written one with Lindsey Buckingham. Over time the album has been rather overtaken by its follow up – THAT one! – but for me it is hard to choose which I prefer: Rumours gets all of the attention, but Fleetwood Mac is also a fine album. Over My Head was released as a single in the US in September 1975, but not until February 1976 in the UK. It got to #20 in the US but didn’t make the UK chart: that delayed release suggests to me a reluctance on the part of the record company to support it. Fleetwood Mac are notorious for the various romantic entanglements between them, and Christine has said that this was a song about her infatuation at the time with Lindsey: when she was still married to John McVie and Lindsey was in the process of breaking up with Stevie. Oh, what tangled webs we weave!

I promised you a bit of fun to close with, didn’t I? How about this:

Freddie and the Dreamers were a short-lived novelty band, and this clip from 1964 probably shows you why! They had several hits here, including some real biggies, and Over You also made the UK Singles chart at #23. I wouldn’t say that they were ever a favourite band, but they were fun while they lasted and were always good for a smile. Looking at that video it strikes me that the audience is very different from what you might see at a pop concert these days: they seem to be a collection of mums on a coach outing, laughing at the band’s antics. The song was ‘co-written’ by Ande Rand and Buck Ram, who are actually two of several names by which the same guy – Samuel Ram – went. He was best known for his association with The Platters. Somehow I can’t seem them dancing around like this!

That’s my lot for today: two lovely songs and a bit of nonsense! I hope you enjoyed them all, though, and I’ll see you again for Tuesday Tunes – I promise you a different theme this week. Take care 😊