Barking up the wrong tree: the song Christine McVie secretly wrote about her affair
Knowing the extent of Fleetwood Mac’s fiery behind-the-scenes dynamics, Christine McVie’s writing a song about her affair will likely surprise no one. What might seem a little out of the ordinary, however, is the seemingly strange cover-up the singer once fabricated to avoid any sort of altercation with her then-husband, John McVie.
Working on Rumours was like waiting for a firework to explode. Aside from the obvious reasons, McVie was trying to deal with her fairytale romance turning sour, along with the accompanying joy and guilt that came attached to affairs like an old, unremoved clothes tag. What’s even more startling is that she longed to keep the peace but couldn’t resist the tempting currents of forbidden hedonism.
The addition of McVie to the band was significant, not only because her excellent piano skills elevated the band’s sound to new heights but also because her songwriting skills provided the dynamics with a unique layer that perfectly balanced out the others’ distinctive sounds. Once the seed was planted about her discovering a new flame, however, efforts were made to keep her husband happy.
McVie wrote ‘You Make Loving Fun’ about a bustling romance with Curry Grant, the band’s lighting technician, in the midst of her breakup with John. Experiencing a “mild coffee’ rush due to a white powder stimulant the band would grow to love and hate, McVie performed the song in the studio with great stamina until its energy and aura reached a point that everybody was happy with.
However, like anybody hoping to conceal their darkest inner truth, McVie drew up a white lie about the song’s real meaning. According to Making Rumours, she devised a plan to lead her husband to believe the song was about her dog “to avoid flare-ups”. While this may have been an undeniably adorable alternative, the song wasn’t about any pets – hers or anybody else’s – whatsoever.
If John had known its real inspiration, it’s likely he would have been overcome with bitterness. Judging by the title alone, and considering its wider context, ‘You Make Loving Fun’ seems to hold a resentful undertone aimed at any lover she experienced that lacked lightheartedness, made worse by the comparisons she now had with a new lover who succeeded in ticking those boxes.
The groove also adds a somewhat tongue-in-cheek element as she sings about her new “sweet wonderful” love, a flair made even more compelling with Lindsey Buckingham’s tasteful electric rhythm chords glazing the accompanying drum and bass with effortless finesse. McVie might have put art ahead of internal conflict, but the result is one of the Mac’s biggest, most career-defining compositions.