Go Your Own Way

Lindsey Buckingham wrote this as a message to Stevie Nicks. It describes their breakup, with the most obvious line being, "Packing up, shacking up is all you want to do," and concluding that he is better off without her - she can go her own way as far as he's concerned. Stevie insisted she never shacked up with anyone when they were going out, and wanted Lindsey to take out the line, but he refused. Stevie Nicks told Q magazine June 2009: "It was certainly a message within a song. And not a very nice one at that."

While the Rumours album was being recorded, the marriage of John and Christine McVie (both of them Mac members) was also coming to an end. With two couples breaking up during the sessions, recording could be quite tense, but thanks in large part to producers Richard Dashut and Ken Caillat (Colbie's dad), they channeled this resentment into the songs. They were also doing lots of drugs at the sessions, making sure there was plenty of Behind The Music material.

The bitterness in the verse lyrics is often lost in this song, overpowered by a refrain that suggests adventure and individuality. In later years, Fleetwood Mac encouraged this translation as the song became a singalong stadium stomper at their live shows, with no hint of the resentment that fueled it. They even featured it in concerts after Buckingham was booted from the band in 2018, with Neil Finn singing his part and Mike Campbell taking the guitar solo.