4 of Fleetwood Mac’s Saddest Songs of All Time

Fleetwood Mac explored so many different themes during their heyday, particularly on their legendary 1977 album Rumours. From relationships to romance to vengeance to good ol’ messy love affairs, Fleetwood Mac has tackled it all with their special folk-rock touch. They’ve also produced quite a few tear-jerking tunes, as well. Let’s take a look at four of Fleetwood Mac’s saddest songs of all time.

1. “Landslide”

When it comes to Fleetwood Mac’s saddest songs, “Landslide” really takes the cake. It isn’t just surface-level sad either. “Landslide” is incredibly existential and explores how life changes us and ages us. One could also interpret the lyrics as describing the value of finding the strength to overcome the most difficult of life’s challenges. When you really focus in on Stevie Nicks’ beautifully written lyrics, the song lingers with you.

2. “I’m So Afraid”

This 1975 track comes from Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled album and was written by Lindsey Buckingham. It’s a song (obviously) about fear, but it goes much deeper than that. The song is about the fear of loneliness, pain, and failure, as well as the fear that one will never be able to change as a person. It’s a simple song written by a man who was allegedly ill with mono at the time, which is a pretty good setting to get existential and miserable in one’s songwriting.

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3. “Storms”

Another beautiful composition from Stevie Nicks, “Storms” was released in 1979 on the album Tusk. It’s a pretty loaded song, too. Nicks has said that the song was about her fairly well-known affair with Mick Fleetwood which contributed to his marriage to Jenny Boyd falling apart.

“It was really about Mick,” said Nicks. “That relationship destroyed Mick’s marriage to Jenny, who was the sweetest person in the world…Here’s that song in a nutshell: Don’t break up other people’s marriages. It will never work and will haunt you for the rest of your miserable days.”

4. “When I See You Again”

This song is oddly controversial. Some love Nicks’ vocals on this track, some hate them. However, one can’t deny that it’s one of Fleetwood Mac’s saddest songs. It’s an excellent, tragic, and meaningful post-breakup track. Anyone who has experienced a really, really bad breakup will likely identify with it.

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives

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