Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain”, from the 1977 album Rumours, is presented as the only song credited to all five members of the band. Its collaborative construction and later status as a concert favourite reflect both the group’s creative tensions and its ability to turn fragmented material into one of its best-known recordings.

The song reportedly began as Christine McVie’s “Keep Me There”, though little of that original remained by completion. Lindsey Buckingham wrote verses around a retained bridge, John McVie and Buckingham devised the ending, and Stevie Nicks contributed lyrics and an introduction adapted from an earlier Buckingham Nicks song; Buckingham later said Mick Fleetwood was not involved in writing but received a shared credit. The title referred to the track’s assembly from separate pieces, while its lyrics may have drawn on Buckingham and Nicks’s difficult relationship.