Neil Finn has revealed the song that had to be dropped from Fleetwood Mac’s set list after he joined the band.
The Crowded House frontman was added to Fleetwood Mac’s lineup following Lindsey Buckingham’s acrimonious dismissal in 2018. During a recent appearance on the Broken Record podcast, Finn noted he “admired” the group for their “great pop songs.” Still, his arrival came with adjustments.
“Learning somebody else’s songs and the way they put songs together is really fascinating, getting deep inside it because you think you know the way that songs work, but then when you actually learn them, you find that there’s more going on than you realized,” he explained. “And they’re harder to learn other people’s songs too, the little nuances that they add.”
One Fleetwood Mac Song Had Neil Finn Blowing His Voice Out
Asked which particular Fleetwood Mac song challenged him, Finn offered up a tune from the band’s 1975 self-titled album.
“Certainly, ‘Monday Morning’,” the singer admitted. “Just quite a strange song and a weird lyric as well.”
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Finn went on to explain that the “Monday Morning” had “so much singing, and it’s really high and it’s very hard to sing. It’s because there’s no gaps in the vocal [to take a breath].”
He eventually told the band, “I don’t think I can do that one unless we drop the key quite a bit.” Considering Finn was “blowing [his] voice out every night trying to do it,” Fleetwood Mac opted to drop the song entirely from their set.
Finn’s final concert with Fleetwood Mac took place on Nov. 20, 2019. Three years later, Christine McVie died, leading Fleetwood Mac to retire. Finn has continued to perform with Crowded House, and has tour dates scheduled in Europe and Australia through the end of 2024.
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Gallery Credit: Dave Lifton