Over My Head

"Over My Head" is a soft rock song performed by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. The song was written by group keyboardist and vocalist Christine McVie. "Over My Head" was the band's first single to reach the Billboard Hot 100 since "Oh Well", ending a six-year dry spell on the American charts. Background Christine McVie composed the song using a portable Hohner electric piano in a small apartment in Malibu, California, where she and then-husband John McVie (Fleetwood Mac's bassist) resided after completing a concert tour to promote Heroes Are Hard to Find, the previous album. The lyrics were inspired by her relationship with bandmate Lindsey Buckingham. “I think that was based on a sort of fantasy about Lindsey, really. I think that was a sort of an ode to the gorgeous Lindsey at the time.” The original rhythm track consisted of just vocals, drums and a Dobro. Other instruments were added later to embellish the song, including McVie's Vox Continental organ. Buckingham used open D tuning on the studio version and also kept a Fender Stratocaster with the same tuning onstage for early live performances. In the U.S., Reprise Records selected "Over My Head" as the lead single from the 1975 LP Fleetwood Mac, a decision that surprised McVie, who believed that "Over My Head" was an unlikely choice for a single. Nevertheless, the song reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1976. The single's success helped the group's eponymous 1975 album sell 8 million units.