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Big Love (Fleetwood Mac song)#Music video

{{Infobox song

| name = Big Love

| cover = Fleetwood Mac - Big Love.png

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Fleetwood Mac

| album = Tango in the Night

| B-side = You and I, Part I

| released = 23 March 1987{{cite magazine |date=21 March 1987 |title=New Singles |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1987/Music-Week-1987-03-21.pdf|magazine=Music Week |access-date=8 April 2025}}

| recorded = 1986–1987

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = {{flat list|

  • Pop rock{{cite book|first= Richie |last= Unterberger |author-link= Richie Unterberger |year= 2016 |title= Fleetwood Mac: The Complete Illustrated History |page= 152 |publisher= Voyageur Press |isbn= 978-0-7603-5176-5 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CwhbDAAAQBAJ&q=%22big+love%22&pg=PA152}}
  • soft rock{{cite book|first1= Nathan |last1= Brackett |first2= Christian |last2= Hoard |year= 2004 |title= The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |edition= 4th |publisher= Fireside |isbn= 0-394-72107-1 |page= [https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/304 304] |url= https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac|url-access= registration |quote= big love. }}

}}

| length = 3:41

| label = Warner Bros.

| writer = Lindsey Buckingham

| producer = {{flat list|

}}

| chronology = Fleetwood Mac

| prev_title = Can't Go Back

| prev_year = 1982

| next_title = Seven Wonders

| next_year = 1987

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|4hPv6EuV7dM|"Big Love"}}}}

}}

"Big Love" is a song written by Lindsey Buckingham and performed by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. The song first appeared on the band's 1987 album Tango in the Night. The song was the first single to be released from the album, reaching number 5 in the US{{cite book |title= The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits: Eighth Edition |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=230}} and number nine in the UK. The single was also a hit on the American dance charts, where the song peaked at number 7.{{cite book |title= Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=100}}

A 12-inch version featured an extended dance mix, with added vocals by Stevie Nicks. While the 12-inch version in some territories included "You & I, Part II" from the Tango in the Night album, the 7-inch version and 12-inch version in other territories included a non-album track, "You & I, Part I". A limited edition 12-inch picture disc was released in the UK, as well as a double 7-inch pack that included the "Big Love" single, and an exclusive 7-inch featuring "The Chain" as an A-side. "Big Love" became a standard of the Balearic beat dance sound,Alexis Patridis, [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/mar/23/fleetwood-mac-tango-in-the-night-reissue-review "Fleetwood Mac: Tango in the Night review – timely reissue coasts from gloss to gloom"], The Guardian, 23 March 2016.{{cite book|author=Iain Stewart|title=Ibiza and Formentera|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1o8cp-r6PwgC&pg=PA327|year=2003|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=978-1-84353-063-3|page=327}} and the object of an extended remix by the DJ Arthur Baker.{{cite book|author1=Simon Frith|author-link1=Simon Frith|author2=Andrew Goodwin|title=On Record: Rock, Pop and the Written Word|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xvmJAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT401|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-93950-3|page=401}}

Background

In 1985, Buckingham began compiling material for a third solo album and eventually amassed around 50 songs during this time. One of those songs was "Big Love", which Buckingham intended to include on his solo album. However, Fleetwood Mac was also creating a new album at the time, so Buckingham abandoned his solo project and transferred "Big Love" to Tango in the Night.{{Cite web |last=Katz |first=Larry |date=1987 |title=The Katz Tapes |url=https://thekatztapes.library.northeastern.edu/item/neu:4f16nx22v/ |access-date=31 January 2023|language=en-US}} "My choice was to keep making the solo record and walk in as a cameo and have cameo producers, or just surrender to the situation and say there will be more songs later. And I chose the latter."{{Cite book|last=Zollo|first=Paul |year=1993 |publication-date=2003|title=Songwriters On Songwriting, Expanded Edition |isbn=978-0306812651 |publisher=Hachette Books |pages=465-475 |edition=2nd|url=http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.php?page=index_v2&id=145&c=9 |access-date=19 May 2023|via=The Blue Letter Archives|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151230161910/http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.php?page=index_v2&id=145&c=9 |archive-date=30 December 2015}}

"Big Love" was nearly complete by the time Fleetwood Mac began work on Tango in the Night, so the band largely left Buckingham's demo untouched for the final release. Buckingham performed the oh-ah vocals himself by sampling his voice through the use of a variable speed oscillator (VS0). "It was odd," he said, "that so many people wondered if it was Stevie on there with me."{{cite magazine |last=White|first=Timothy |date=February 1989|title=Last Tango, New Beginnings: The Fleetwood Mac Nobody Knows |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Musician/1980/1988/Musician-1989-02.pdf |access-date=5 January 2025 |magazine=Musician |via=World Radio History}} The song possesses a I-VII-VI-VII chord progression in the verses and a IV-V-I dominant sequence in the chorus.{{cite journal |last1=Moore |first1=Alan |title=Patterns of Harmony |journal=Popular Music |date=January 1992 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=83–84|publisher=Cambridge University Press|doi=10.1017/S0261143000004852 |s2cid=162086782 }} Musically, "Big Love" is oriented around the main guitar riff, bass guitar, and a mixture of programmed and live drums.{{Cite book |last=Roubin |first=Olivier |title=Fleetwood Mac: All The Songs |last2=Ollivier |first2=Romuald |date=1 April 2025 |publisher=Black Dog Leventhal Publishers |isbn=978-0-7624-8630-4 |location=New York |pages=478, 492}} The lyrics relate to skepticism of entering a romantic relationship.{{Cite book |last=Blake |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Blake (writer) |title=The Many Lives of Fleetwood Mac |publisher=Pegasus Books |year=2024 |isbn=978-1-63936-732-0 |location=New York |pages=302-303 |chapter=Big Love: Fleetwood Mac Love Kate Bush}}

{{blockquote|The song originally was about isolation, and it was about the fact that I was living up in Bel Air, Los Angeles at the time in this house on a hill, with a view of downtown, and I had my studio there, and I was all set to go. But I was also not attached at that time. And so the chorus [is] basically saying, looking out for love. But it doesn’t say that I'm looking for love.{{Cite web |date=3 October 2024|title=Lindsey Buckingham on Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and Songwriting |url=https://bestclassicbands.com/lindsey-buckingham-interview-nile-rodgers-apple-music-5-8-211/ |access-date=8 April 2025|website=Best Classic Bands |language=en-GB}} |Lindsey Buckingham}}

"Big Love" was released as the lead single from Tango in the Night on 23 March 1987 with "You & I, Part I" as its B-side. "You & I, Part I" was another song written by Buckingham written during the Tango in the Night sessions, although it did not appear on the final album.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/greatrockdiscogr00stro/page/296/mode/2up|title=The Great Rock Discography|year=1995|page=296 |isbn=9780862415419 |last1=Strong |first1=Martin Charles |publisher=Canongate Press }} In the United States, the song debuted at No. 52 on the 28 March 1987 edition of the Billboard Hot 100. That same week, it received 143 adds to playlists, making it the most added song on radio that week.{{cite magazine |last=Ellis |first=Michael|title=Hot 100 Singles Spotlight|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1987/Billboard-1987-03-28.pdf|magazine=Billboard|date=28 March 1987 |access-date=8 April 2025|page=73 |volume=99 |issue=13}} The song entered the top 40 on the week dated 11 April 1987 and peaked at number five on the 30th of May. It spent a total of 16 weeks in the top 100, 11 of which were in the top 40.{{cite book|title=The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|publisher=Billboard Books|year=2010|isbn=978-0-8230-8554-5|edition=9th|location=New York, NY|page=241}}

Acoustic version

After Buckingham left Fleetwood Mac in 1987 (shortly after Tango in the Night was released), the band did not perform "Big Love" live until his return in 1997. Buckingham performed a guitar-only version of the song on his first solo tour in 1992–1993 and described the rendition as "Leo Kottke meets classical on acid."{{Cite book |last=DeMain |first=Bill|title=Fleetwood Mac on Fleetwood Mac: Interviews and Encounters |publisher=Chicago Review Press |date=May 2003|isbn=978-161373-234-2 |editor-last=Egan |editor-first=Sean |chapter=War and Peace and Fleetwood Mac – Performing Songwriter|publication-date=2016|page=267|url=https://archive.org/details/fleetwoodmaconfl0000unse_f7y2/page/266/mode/2up |accessdate=23 November 2024|url-access=registration}} When Buckingham played "Big Love" live, he used a gutted Gibson Chet Atkins SST with a capo on the fourth fret and a synth pickup.{{Cite web|url=https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/Rig_Rundown_Lindsey_Buckingham|title=Rig Rundown - Lindsey Buckingham|date=October 10, 2012|first=Jason|last=Shadrick|website=www.premierguitar.com|language=en|access-date=3 June 2019}} In 1997, he performed "Big Love" in the same style on Fleetwood Mac's live album The Dance.{{Cite web |title=LIVE from Your Speakers: Fleetwood Mac, THE DANCE |url=https://www.rhino.com/article/live-from-your-speakers-fleetwood-mac-the-dance |access-date=24 November 2024|website=Rhino |language=en}} The song also appeared on the second volume of Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown film soundtrack.{{Cite web |last=Foster |first=Tom |date=4 October 2017|title=10 Top Uses of Fleetwood Mac Songs in Movies or TV |website=TVovermind |url=https://tvovermind.com/top-uses-fleetwood-mac-songs-movies-tv/ |access-date=23 November 2024|language=en-US}} Buckingham has performed the song on solo tours as well as Fleetwood Mac tours, including the band's 2014–2015 On With the Show Tour.{{Cite web|url=http://www.straight.com/music/424806/fleetwood-mac-brings-crazy-ass-fingerpicking-and-monster-drums-vancouver|title=Fleetwood Mac brings crazy-ass fingerpicking and monster drums to Vancouver|date=2015-04-05|website=Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly|language=en|access-date=2019-05-30}} During Fleetwood Mac's performance on 27 May 2015 at The O2 Arena, Leonie Cooper of NME reported that drops of blood were present on Buckingham's guitar due to the intensity of his playing.{{Cite magazine |last=Cooper |first=Leonie |date=13 June 2015 |title=Fleetwood Mac: The O2 Arena, London Wednesday, May 27 |magazine=NME|url=https://archive.org/details/NME_June_13_2015_UK/page/n47/mode/2up |page=49 |accessdate=23 November 2024}}

Music video

Daniel Kleinman directed the music video for "Big Love", which was first launched in April 1987.{{cite magazine |date=4 April 1987 |title=New Videoclips|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1987/Billboard-1987-04-04.pdf|magazine=Cash Box |accessdate=10 April 2025|page=62 |via=World Radio History}} The video opens on a shot of a mansion. The camera slowly pans back and continues to pan back throughout the video as Buckingham sings with the band featured playing instruments in various settings while Nicks dances around wearing different outfits during the video. During the last segment of the song, the video is then played backwards in a fast forwarded sort of form.

Critical reception

In its 28 March 1987 publication, Billboard earmarked the song as one of its pop picks, a term designated to singles with "the greatest chart potential." They noted that "Big Love" was Fleetwood Mac's first single release since 1982 and said that the song "hops with nervous Buckingham rhythms."{{cite magazine|title=Single Reviews: Pop Picks |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1987/Billboard-1987-03-28.pdf|magazine=Billboard|date=28 March 1987 |accessdate=8 April 2025|page=73 |volume=99 |issue=13}} Cash Box called it a "perfect blend of rock experimentation and pure pop sensibility."{{cite magazine|title=Single Releases|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1987/CB-1987-03-28.pdf|magazine=Cash Box|date=28 March 1987 |accessdate=8 August 2022 |page=9}} The Guardian and Paste ranked the song number 18 and number 19 respectively on their lists of the 30 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/may/19/fleetwood-mac-ranked-30-best-songs|title=Fleetwood Mac's 30 greatest songs – ranked!|first=Alexis|last=Petridis|work=The Guardian|date=19 May 2022|accessdate=18 October 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/fleetwood-mac/30-best-fleetwood-mac-songs|title=The 30 Greatest Fleetwood Mac Songs|first=Matt|last=Mitchell|work=Paste|date=7 August 2023|accessdate=18 October 2023}} Some music critics, including Matthew Lindsay of The Quietus, found similarities between "Big Love" and Kate Bush{{'s}} song "Running Up That Hill".{{Cite web |last=Lindsay |first=Matthew |date=23 June 2022 |title=The Rhythm Divine: Running Up That Hill By Kate Bush |url=https://thequietus.com/quietus-reviews/reissue-of-the-week/kate-bush-running-up-that-hill/ |access-date=8 April 2025 |website=The Quietus |language=en-GB}} Mark Blake noted that both songs began with a sustained reversed cymbal crash and a "hypnotic mechanized" programmed drum beat.

Track listings

UK 7" single (Warner Brothers Records W 8398)

  1. "Big Love" – 3:37
  2. "You and I, Part I" – 3:09

UK 12" single (Warner Brothers Records W 8398 T)

  1. "Big Love" (Extended Remix) – 6:42
  2. "You and I, Part I" – 3:09

US 12" single (Warner Brothers Records 0-20683)

  1. "Big Love" (Extended Remix) – 6:42
  2. "Big Love" (House on the Hill Dub) – 3:03
  3. "Big Love" (Piano Dub) – 6:36
  4. "You and I, Part II" – 2:40

Personnel

Charts

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

=Weekly charts=

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+Weekly chart performance for "Big Love"

!Chart (1987)

!Position

scope="row"|Australia (Kent Music Report){{Cite book|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, NSW|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6}}

|16

{{single chart|Flanders|8|artist=Fleetwood Mac|song=Big Love|rowheader=true|access-date=7 April 2022}}
{{single chart|Canadatopsingles|12|chartid=0820|rowheader=true|access-date=22 June 2022}}
scope="row"|Europe (European Hot 100 Singles){{cite magazine|title=European Hot 100 Singles|magazine=Music & Media|volume=4|issue=20|page=14|date=23 May 1987}}

|7

{{single chart|Ireland2|8|song=Big Love|rowheader=true|access-date=22 June 2022}}
{{single chart|Dutch40|4|artist=Fleetwood Mac|rowheader=true|access-date=7 April 2022}}
{{single chart|Dutch100|8|artist=Fleetwood Mac|song=Big Love|rowheader=true|access-date=7 April 2022}}
{{single chart|New Zealand|29|artist=Fleetwood Mac|song=Big Love|rowheader=true|access-date=7 April 2022}}
scope="row"|South African Top 20{{Cite web|url=http://www.rock.co.za/files/sa_charts_1969_1989_songs_(A-B).html|title=South African Rock Lists Website – SA Charts 1965 – 1989 Songs (A-B)|website=www.rock.co.za|access-date=18 April 2019}}

|11

{{single chart|Sweden|14|artist=Fleetwood Mac|song=Big Love|rowheader=true|access-date=7 April 2022}}
{{single chart|UKsinglesbyname|9|artist=Fleetwood Mac|artistid=28702|rowheader=true|access-date=22 June 2022}}
{{single chart|Billboardhot100|5|artist=Fleetwood Mac|rowheader=true|access-date=22 June 2022|refname="Hot100"}}
{{single chart|Billboardadultcontemporary|23|artist=Fleetwood Mac|rowheader=true|access-date=22 June 2022}}
{{single chart|Billboarddanceclubplay|7|artist=Fleetwood Mac|rowheader=true|access-date=22 June 2022|note=Remix}}
{{single chart|Billboarddancesales|11|artist=Fleetwood Mac|rowheader=true|access-date=22 June 2022|note=Remix}}
{{single chart|Billboardmainstreamrock|2|artist=Fleetwood Mac|rowheader=true|access-date=22 June 2022}}
{{single chart|West Germany|17|artist=Fleetwood Mac|song=Big Love|songid=26404|rowheader=true|access-date=22 June 2022}}

{{col-2}}

=Year-end charts=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center"

|+Year-end chart performance for "Big Love"

!Chart (1987)

!Position

scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop){{cite web|url=https://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=1987|title=Jaaroverzichten 1987|publisher=Ultratop|language=nl|access-date=6 April 2022}}

|60

scope="row"|Canada Top Singles (RPM){{cite magazine|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.0920&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.0920.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.0920|title=Top 100 Single of 1987|magazine=RPM|via=Library and Archives Canada|date=26 December 1987|access-date=22 June 2022}}

|92

scope="row"|Europe (European Hot 100 Singles){{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/80s/1987/M&M-1987-12-26.pdf|title=European Charts of the Year 1987 > Singles|magazine=Music & Media|volume=4|issue=51/52|page=34|date=26 December 1987|access-date=7 April 2022}}

|86

scope="row"|Netherlands (Dutch Top 40){{cite web|url=https://www.top40.nl/bijzondere-lijsten/top-100-jaaroverzichten/1987|title=Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 1987|publisher=Dutch Top 40|language=nl|access-date=7 April 2022}}

|35

scope="row"|Netherlands (Single Top 100){{cite web|url=https://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1987&cat=s|title=Jaaroverzichten – Single 1987|publisher=MegaCharts|language=nl|access-date=6 April 2022}}

|63

scope="row"|US Billboard Hot 100{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JCgEAAAAMBAJ&q=fleetwood+Mac+Little+Lies&pg=RA1-PA33|title=Billboard Magazine – Year-end Charts of 1987|date=26 December 1987}}

|81

{{col-end}}

Certifications

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications and sales for "Big Love"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Fleetwood Mac|title=Big Love|award=Gold|relyear=2004|certyear=2023|access-date=15 December 2023|id=892-1472-1}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Fleetwood Mac}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1987 singles

Category:Fleetwood Mac songs

Category:Songs written by Lindsey Buckingham

Category:Song recordings produced by Richard Dashut

Category:Warner Records singles