Peak
3
Weeks
18
Score
3,255
Chart Year
1977
Christine McVie wrote this song about leaving the past behind. She and John McVie (Fleetwood Mac's bass player) were splitting up, which inspired the lyrics. This caused some awkward moments, since John had to play a song written about him. Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were also going through a breakup and writing songs about each other ("Go Your Own Way," "Dreams"), and Mick Fleetwood was going through a divorce. All the tension in the studio didn't seem to hurt - Rumours is one of the best-selling albums of all time. The album was going to be called "Yesterday's Gone," after a line in this song. John McVie suggested "Rumours" because it seemed like everyone in Southern California was talking about the personal drama Fleetwood Mac was going through. Bill Clinton used "Don't Stop" as his theme song when he successfully ran for US president in 1992. He was the first baby boomer president, and he knew Fleetwood Mac would appeal to a lot of voters in this demographic. There was some subtext to this pairing of song and politician: Clinton was a known philanderer and had been through some rough times with his wife Hillary. The song finds Christine McVie offering her husband a chance to move forward despite his transgressions: Why not think about times to come And not about the things that you've done The vast majority of listeners didn't pick up on this, as it was heard as a song of hope and renewal in the context of the campaign. When Bill Clinton won the presidential election, Fleetwood Mac was thrust back into the spotlight because his campaign had used this song at every opportunity. At the time, the band was fractured, with Lindsey Buckingham out of the lineup since 1987 and Stevie Nicks out since 1991. And while Clinton couldn't push through universal health care, he was able to get the Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac back together, as Buckingham and Nicks joined John and Christine McVie and Mick Fleetwood to perform at his inaugural gala in 1993 the day before he was sworn into office. Nothing came of the one-off reunion, and the band spent the next few years punching below their weight, even opening for REO Speedwagon. In 1997, Buckingham and Nicks returned to the fold and Fleetwood Mac were once again an arena act, embarking on their wildly successful The Dance tour. On September 26, 2013, the band welcomed old friend Christine McVie to the stage in London's O2 Arena. The singer-keyboardist, who quit the group in 1998, sang her own "Don't Stop," marking a rare full-band reunion. >> John McVie didn't twig for a long time that Chrissie McVie wrote the song about him. He told Mojo magazine in 2015: "I never put that together. I've been playing it for years and it wasn't until somebody told me, 'Chris wrote that about you.' Oh really?" The Scottish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt covered this for a 2013 John Lewis ad. Her version peaked at #61 on the UK singles chart.
If you wake up and don't want to smile If it takes just a little while Open your eyes, look at the day You'll see things in a different way Don't stop thinking about tomorrow Don't stop, it'll soon be here It'll be, better than before Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone Why not think about times to come? And not about the things that you've done If your life was bad to you We'll just do what tomorrow will do So don't stop thinking about tomorrow Don't stop, it'll soon be here It'll be, better than before Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone (gone) All I want is to see you smile If it takes just a little while I know you don't believe that it's true I never meant any harm to you Don't stop thinking about tomorrow Don't stop, it'll soon be here It'll be, better than before Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone Don't stop thinking about tomorrow Don't stop, it'll soon be here It'll be, better than before Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone Ooh, don't you look back Ooh, don't you look back (don't you look back) Ooh, don't you look back Ooh, don't you look back (yeah yeah yeah) Thanks a lot, goodnight We'll see ya God bless, thanks very much everyone for coming Thank you, goodnight Take care of yourselves and we'll see you soon And thank you so much Thanks so much for being here Making this a very special night for us It's been a long time God bless
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jul 9, 1977 | 72 | 54 |
| 2 | Jul 16, 1977 | 60 | 66 |
| 3 | Jul 23, 1977 | 31 | 95 |
| 4 | Jul 30, 1977 | 22 | 104 |
| 5 | Aug 6, 1977 | 16 | 110 |
| 6 | Aug 13, 1977 | 13 | 113 |
| 7 | Aug 20, 1977 | 11 | 115 |
| 8 | Aug 27, 1977 | 9 | 117 |
| 9 | Sep 3, 1977 | 8 | 118 |
| 10 | Sep 10, 1977 | 6 | 120 |
| 11 | Sep 17, 1977 | 5 | 121 |
| 12 | Sep 24, 1977 | 3 | 123 |
| 13 | Oct 1, 1977 | 3 | 123 |
| 14 | Oct 8, 1977 | 15 | 111 |
| 15 | Oct 15, 1977 | 23 | 103 |
| 16 | Oct 22, 1977 | 34 | 92 |
| 17 | Oct 29, 1977 | 65 | 61 |
| 18 | Nov 5, 1977 | 95 | 31 |