And if you don’t love me now,
You will never love me again.

Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” is a great breakup song. It appears that promises were made and now that couple is no longer together. The chain that held them together was supposed to stay like that forever.

These words that we speak to each other when we are together–of forever and permanence–do they lose all meaning when the love dies? Was it a lie? Regardless, the narrator says you will never have his love again.  Buckingham has used this line before in Never Going Back Again. Apparently, you get one try with him.

“The Chain” was written on the famous Rumours album, in which everyone in the band was enmeshed in each other’s sex lives and it was crumbling apart. It made for excellent music, but perhaps not the best working environment. The album is a masterpiece and I cannot imagine anyone not having it in their top five all-time.

“The Chain” is one of the only songs written by everyone in Fleetwood Mac. You can hear the individual contributions of each performer if you listen closely. Most notable is John McVie’s contribution on the bass. The song is heavily driven by its distinct bassline. It has one of Lindsey’s best solos as well. He really rocks. If you have seen him play this live you can see he plays part of the lead while singing at the same time. It is ridiculous.

The Best Cover of The Chain- The Highwomen

This is one of those songs that you would think could never be covered well. However, The Highwomen deliver a captivating performance–worthy of the original–below.

The Chain Lyrics

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 will never love me again.
I can 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 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 will never love me again.
I can still hear you saying,
You would never break the chain (Never break the chain).
Chain keep us together (running in the shadow)…

written by Fleetwood Mac