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Hold Me (Fleetwood Mac song)

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B-side
  
"Eyes of the World"

Recorded
  
1981

Length
  
3:44

Format
  
7"

Genre
  
Pop rock

Released
  
June 1982 (US) July 1982 (UK)

"Hold Me" is a single by British-American rock group Fleetwood Mac. The song was the first track to be released from the 1982 album Mirage, the fourth album by the band with Lindsey Buckingham acting as main producer with Richard Dashut and Ken Caillat.

Contents

Background

"Hold Me" was written by Christine McVie and Robbie Patton and sung by McVie and Lindsey Buckingham. Released in June 1982 in advance of the album itself, the song became one of Fleetwood Mac's biggest hits in the US, peaking at number 4 for seven consecutive weeks and ranking at number 31 on the Hot 100 year-end chart for 1982.

It is alleged that the song was about McVie's turbulent three-year relationship with Dennis Wilson, who struggled with alcoholism throughout their time together.

In the UK, "Hold Me" was not a successful single. It was first released there in July 1982 and failed to chart. It became a quite popular radio hit however, and it was eventually re-issued in February 1989 to promote the group's 1988 Greatest Hits package with "No Questions Asked" as the B-side. It only reached number 94.

The song is also included on the 2002 US version, and 2009 UK re-issue of the album The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac.

Music video

The music video for "Hold Me" features the band in a surreal scenario set in a desert based on several René Magritte paintings. In the video, Christine McVie is in a room with many paintings, searching for Buckingham in the desert with a telescope. Buckingham discovers Nicks lying on a chaise longue and paints her, while in other scenes John McVie and Fleetwood are archaeologists. The desert itself is littered with broken mirrors, which serve as a motif in the video, and with violins and the electric guitars and other instruments.

Due to the band members' strained relationships at the time, the video shoot in the Mojave Desert was "a fucking nightmare" according to producer Simon Fields. "[They] were, um, not easy to work with" agrees Steve Barron, who directed the clip. "It was so hot, and we weren't getting along" recalls Stevie Nicks. Lindsey Buckingham was still not over their breakup six years earlier, nor her subsequent affair with Mick Fleetwood. Further, she elaborates, the rest of the band was angry with Fleetwood because he had then begun an affair with Nicks' best friend, who left her husband as a result, causing serious issues for Nicks.

"Four of them—I can't recall which four—couldn't be together in the same room for very long. They didn't want to be there", says Barron. "Christine McVie was about ten hours out of the makeup trailer. By which time it was getting dark." According to Fields, "John McVie was drunk and tried to punch me. Stevie Nicks didn't want to walk on the sand with her platforms. Christine McVie was fed up with all of them. Mick thought she was being a bitch, he wouldn't talk to her."

Track listing and formats

"Hold Me" 12" US promotional single (PRO-A-1040)

  1. "Hold Me" (Christine McVie, Robbie Patton) – 3:42 (both sides)

Personnel

  • Lindsey Buckingham – twelve-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, lead (in unison with C. McVie) and backing vocals
  • Christine McVie – piano, Yamaha CP30 electric piano, lead (in unison with Buckingham) and backing vocals
  • John McVie – bass guitar
  • Mick Fleetwood – drums, tambourine, congas
  • References

    Hold Me (Fleetwood Mac song) Wikipedia