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The Penguin Discography: What Makes You Think You're The One




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    Song Title »
What Makes You Think You're The One
    Authors »
Lindsey Buckingham

    Year Written »
1979

    Lyrics »

What makes you think you're the one
Who can laugh without cryin'?
What makes you think you're the one
Who can live without dyin'?
Every little bit
Is there
To see
Every little bit
Of you
And me

What makes you think I'm the one
Who'll be there when you're callin'?
What makes you think I'm the one
Who will catch you when you're fallin'?
Every little bit
Is there
To see
Every little bit
Of you
And me

What makes you think I'm the one
Who will love you forever?
Everything you do has been done
And this won't last forever
Every little bit
Is there
To see
Every little bit
Of you
And me

    Fan Interpretation »

Contributors to this interpretation included: Luke Arnott, Lauren, Barbara II, Becky, Janet, Joanne, Juliana, Ocean, and Stephanie.

Perhaps the most quintessential Tusk song if there ever was one, Lindsey Buckingham’s "What Makes You Think You’re The One" is a scathing response to a former lover (widely believed to be FM band mate Stevie Nicks) who still believes that he will be there for her always. Tusk has been described by critics as the sound of a band imploding, and there is no question that this song continues that tradition. Lindsey has made it widely known that "What Makes You Think You’re The One" is one of his favorite songs. He has stated in the past that he believed the song had "single" potential, although it was never released in that manner. Lindsey talked about the making of "What Makes You Think You’re The One" in the book "Songwriters on Songwriting":

Interviewer: I was listening to his part on "What Makes You Think You’re The One" from Tusk.

Lindsey: Oh yeah, that’ one of the classic drum tracks. I love that. That’s one of the great drum tracks that I’ve ever heard. That’s up there with "Instant Karma." That was a great moment. That was just Mick and myself late at night in the studio, me at the piano. We put a cassette player that has one of those really cheap mikes in it, we put that right under his snare, and it was so explosive the way he heard it in the cans, he got off on it, and he just turned into an animal. And it was just two-piece, there was no Christine or anybody putting any constraints on what could or couldn’t be done. That has to rate as one of my top-five moments with the band.

What makes you think you're the one
Who can laugh without cryin'?
What makes you think you're the one
Who can live without dyin'?
One of the immediate things that you notice once Lindsey starts singing is the hard/no-nonsense voice that Lindsey uses. It goes along with the main theme of the song perfectly.

Lindsey wants Stevie to realize that she can’t realistically think that she can go through her life thinking that nothing can hurt her. There are many opposites in this verse (laughing, crying & living, dying). Lindsey wants to emphatically inform her that she is mistaken. It was also brought up during the interpretation week that perhaps Lindsey wants Stevie to know that he can not get over her as easily that she has gotten over him.

Every little bit
Is there
To see
Every little bit
Of you
And me
It is a widely known fact that a good percentage of both Lindsey’s and Stevie’s songs chronicle the relationship that they have had over the years. It has been said that this was the only way the two could really communicate during those years. He is saying that, since he has narrated their relationship through song and lyric, there should be no question about any facet of their affinity. It is almost as if Lindsey is saying, "The whole world knows about what happened between the two of us, so why don’t you" ?

What makes you think I'm the one
Who'll be there when you're callin'?
What makes you think I'm the one
Who will catch you when you're fallin'?
Lindsey here is emphatically saying that he is not going to be her ‘steady boyfriend’ anymore by any stretch of the imagination. Lindsey can’t handle the pressure of it all. He is not going to be there every time she needs him for any reason. While he doesn’t say he won’t be there at all when she needs him, he also doesn’t say he will. Stevie can no longer depend on him for anything.

What makes you think I'm the one
Who will love you forever?
Everything you do has been done
And this won't last forever
He’s reinforcing the fact that he does not have (or at least doesn’t have anymore) an undying love for Stevie. Stevie cannot undo the pain and the hurt that she inflicted on Lindsey.

"What Makes You Think You're The One" has been interpreted as Lindsey's way of lashing back at Stevie, whom he feels has taken advantage of him as both a lover and a friend. One can only wonder how deep of an impact this song, along with such other Tusk songs as "Not That Funny", "The Ledge," and the title track, had on her both physically and psychologically.

(The interpretations to these lyrics were compiled through discussions on the message boards of the Penguin, The Ledge. It is entirely possible that the artists had something completely different in mind.)

    Tabs »
C                               Am
What makes you think you're the one
        F             Gsus4  G (half time)
Who can laugh without cryin'?

C                               Am
What makes you think you're the one
  * . . . *
|-----------|
|-5-3-5-1__-|
|-5-4-5-2__-|
|-----------|
|-----------|
|-----------|
        F            Gsus4  G  (half time)
Who can live without dyin'?

             Am
Every little bit
   F
Is there
   G    C G
To see.
Every little bit
Of you
And me.

What makes you think I'm the one
Who'll be there when you're callin'?
What makes you think I'm the one
Who will catch you when you're fallin'?

Every little bit
Is there
To see.
Every little bit
Of you
And me.

What makes you think I'm the one
Who will love you forever?
Everything you do has been done.
And this won't last forever.

Every little bit
Is there
To see.
Every little bit
Of you
And me.

Outro:

C, Am, F, G (verse style)
C, F, G (with that crazy singing)
C.

    Performances »
Performance #1:
Running Time 3:30
Sound Clip Listen.
Performers Mick Fleetwood (Drums), Christine McVie (Keyboards), Lindsey Buckingham (Guitars), Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Lindsey Buckingham (Produced By), John McVie (Produced By), Mick Fleetwood (Produced By), Fleetwood Mac (Produced By), Mick Fleetwood (Percussion), Christine McVie (Synthesizers), Christine McVie (Vocals), John McVie (Bass), Stevie Nicks (Vocals), Christine McVie (Produced By), Stevie Nicks (Produced By), Richard Dashut (Produced With), Ken Caillat (Produced With)
Appears On
25 Years: The Chain (1992)
Fleetwood Mac
Tusk (1979)
Fleetwood Mac
The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac (2002)
Fleetwood Mac
Tusk (Rhino Remastered Edition) (2004)
Fleetwood Mac
Performance #2:
Performers Lindsey Buckingham (Guitar), Mick Fleetwood (Drums), John McVie (Bass), Christine McVie (Keyboards)
Appears On
Live Ivory (0000)
Fleetwood Mac
Performance #3:
Running Time 3:30
Sound Clip Listen.
Performers Mick Fleetwood (Drums), Christine McVie (Keyboards), Lindsey Buckingham (Guitars), Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Lindsey Buckingham (Produced By), John McVie (Produced By), Mick Fleetwood (Produced By), Fleetwood Mac (Produced By), Mick Fleetwood (Percussion), Christine McVie (Synthesizers), Christine McVie (Vocals), John McVie (Bass), Stevie Nicks (Vocals), Christine McVie (Produced By), Stevie Nicks (Produced By), Richard Dashut (Produced With), Ken Caillat (Produced With)
Appears On
Tusk Special Radio Sampler (0000)
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac: Tusk (0000)
Warner Brothers Publications Inc.
Fleetwood Mac: Deluxe Anthology (0000)
Warner Brothers Publications Inc.

    Comments »

(C) 1979 Now Sound Music (ASCAP) Copyright Renewed. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured. Used by Permission.

    Reviews »
Add your review of What Makes You Think You're The One here.

    Last Modified »
2009-07-23

    Discography Credits »
Lyrics contributed by Jeff Kenney and Marty Adelson.