Hi. My name is Florence Welch. I’m in a band called Florence and the Machine. And my favorite song is “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac. I mean, I think because I was 17 and I was, like, just starting to really make music of my own and I, like, used to listen to a lot of music in the car with my dad. We were driving somewhere together. And the only CD in the car, like, really, was “Rumors.” And I never heard it before. And I loved the whole record. But there was something really specific about “The Chain.” It’s like a song that is also a roller coaster, like, a literal — like they built, like, a roller coaster out of instrumentation, because it starts so slow. The whole song starts to sort of go up to this peak that gives you that feeling of kind of flying back down again, which is the most amazing feat. It felt like falling off a cliff. And so I’m always trying to recreate that feeling in my songs. Yeah, it opened a door for me, I think, in terms of what being in a band could sound like. And it’s always one of those songs — like, you always have those songs in life that you’re always trying to make yourself. Like, with every record I’ve ever done, there’s always a song where I’m trying to do “The Chain” — [LAUGHS] like, always. And I’m like, not quite right — this, like, nearly there. And try again next time.
