Come A Little Bit Closer (acoustic)
 

Simply Brilliant. Stripped down to acoustic. I have always loved this song. A song about longing for that someone that slipped away and you have such regrets. My favorite song on Heroes. It does not get any better than this :blob1: I don't know why but I feel I am lonely on this board with my love and devotion to this album. Its such a powerful song that I can see why she used this intro to Why on the 1974 tour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=422Afb45vuc

I'm dancing, to the music
Of a simple melody
And I wonder are you thinking
Of a single memory
And I know when I see them swaying
I can hear myself say
Come a little bit closer (come a little bit closer)
'Cause I remember the time
When you held me in your arms (come a little bit closer)
And you wanted to be mine
Everything good, everything gold
And now all that's left is a sweet memory
If you love me, let me know
Why don't you show me which way to go?
Please don't leave me all alone
'Cause I can't make it on my own
And I know when I see them swaying
I can hear myself say
Come a little bit closer (come a little bit closer)
'Cause I remember the time
When you held me in your arms (come a little bit closer)
And you wanted to be mine
I might but wrong, but that's where I belong
Why are you just a sweet memory?
Come a little bit closer (come a little bit closer)
'Cause I remember the time
When you held me in your arms (come a little bit closer)
And you wanted to be mine
Everything good, everything gold
Why are you just a sweet memory?

Amazing…..beautiful……great song and great fiind……and I do love Heroes.

Wowza! Thanks

wow. again i sit here crying! beautiful.

--Lis

Wow. This is amazing. I don’t know whether I prefer this raw acoustic version or the final version with all the lush strings. I absolutely love this song but always thought the strings were a bit too much and over powering. This is so beautiful. Like Christine.

It really does take the song to another level. I dont believe those are real strings because a reviewer back in 1974 criticized them for over playing the synth programmed strings.

Chris's singing seems so heartfelt with so much stripped away. You can feel her emotion. At first listen on the album version it seems like such a happy love song if you dont pay attention to the lyrics so much. But this acoustic version breaks your heart.

"please don't leave me all alone cause I cant make it on my own"

"when you held me in your arms. I might be wrong but that's where I belong"

"Why are you such a sweet memory"


Its almost like this is the Why of Heroes Are Hard to find.

Yes, Come a Little bit Closer and Why are very similar songs. Not in structure but in the feel and emotion.

I’m dancing to the music of a simple melody and I wonder if you’re thinking of a single memory

I can just see her all on her own, putting the record player on and dancing slowly, glass of wine in hand. Maybe a cigarette as well. Thinking of that lost lover. Do you ever think of me or any of those times???

Lets dig deeper into the lyrics. From the first time that I heard the song, I interpreted the "When I see them swaying, I can hear myself say....." as some sort of jealousy feeling. She's watching the guy she loved dance with another girl and she is remembering the old times. But this emotional stripping away of all the glitz has me rethinking this interpretation. I think she is looking back with regret and wishing they got closer. So when she says, "when I see them swaying" she is speaking in third person about herself.

What do you think or anyone else? But I agree with you Fuzzy, its a very deep song like Why but it took the change of music to view it a bit differently.
Its also interesting that she played the intro to this song before going into Why in concert in 1974. Gosh I wish she was around to take questions on this :(

Yeah….that’s how I interpret it. She’s on her own deep into the music reminiscing about a guy she truly loved. They danced and she’s picturing the memory of those times. Come a little bit closer to me. Hold me in your arms. But now she’s alone.

But maybe you’re right. Maybe she’s literally watching an old flame dancing with somebody else and it’s stirring up the jealousy.

(Martin Birch??? or just a fictitious love song?)

It does sound more emotional with all those strings stripped away.

1974 was a pretty bad year for the McVies...:distress:

-Lis

This is a spectacular find! I always wished this song were stripped back to an acoustic guitar, piano, and her vocal. She sounds glorious on it.

I LOVE "Come a Little Bit Closer" - it is simply one of the greatest Fleetwood Mac songs ever recorded!

Her voice sounds so pure. This stripped-down recording of her with Welch’s pleasing acoustic strumming really highlights what a great singer she was. Her voice GLOWS…

Re: the album arrangement: those strings and pedal steel were overkill, and the drums were too heavy. She sounds buried in the mix.

We really do need a release of Christine’s “Best of ” The Songbird release didn’t cut it.

Yes, there should be an official release to commemorate Christine's brilliant career.
I'm not sure how that would work, since most of her song catalog consists of Fleetwood Mac songs. Would Warner Brothers Records/Rhino release a compilation of only Christine songs with the band - combined with a few solo tracks?

I've made my own Christine playlist on my Spotify account. An official career retrospective would be great.

This song is so under-rated we need a new term for it.

What a beautiful find. I've always adored this song and album.

I wish we could have a panel discussion on this song alone and bring Bob and Chris in for it. The musical track (no singing) is one of the happiest tracks the Mac has ever recorded. Its bouncy heaven and puts you in a good mood. It makes you want to sing along. The stripped down acoustic with only singing brings out a more somber Chris even though the singing is the same.
Here is what I want to know. Did Chris bring a demo and she or the band say "we dont want to have another Why song so lets do something upbeat" OR did the band already have this track and Chris put her lyrics or demo to it. I know music arrangement can change the dynamic of a song. This is a perfect example. Does anyone think the inspiration to Why is also the inspiration to this song? Is this why she plays the intro to this song before doing Why in concert in 1974?
Was it done on purpose to put a extremely happy upbeat musical track to a somber broken heart song by Chris?

In one of his Q&As, Bob cited this song as one of his favs of hers because he liked its elaborate production. Not sure how responsible he was for it, but the inclusion of the arp string ensemble makes me think much of the arrangement was down to Christine.

The piano drives the track and everything else is layered in — or so it seems to me.

The drums do not mesh well with the song. They’re too overblown.

Okay, not sure this is the appropriate forum or thread….
But what would the ultimate Christine McVie retrospective consist of?
What would it be called? Songbird has been used. Ditto Don’t Stop. Maybe Christine McVie: Everywhere. Maybe ‘Christine McVie Makes Loving Fun’. Or maybe just plain old….The Very Best of Christine McVie

Why also has strings which maybe is not a coincidence. I suppose Chris really liked that impact on Why and maybe decided to put them on this song. However unlike Why where the music is a somber feeling, the vibe of the musical track is beyond peppy and happy. Its a unique take on the song.
Heroes scores each of Christine signature songs. Two hurt love songs with hope, one angry song (rare), and the signature pop song. She always had the knack but this album showed she was on her way to becoming one of the best pop song writers in pop/rock history.

Christine McVie: Skies The Limit
(the very best of)

Not a bad title….except I wouldn’t put that song on the collection, so….

Listening to this now. It’s doing me a delight. I almost feel I could reach out and touch Christine, but not in a creepy way.

I had the same feeling. She felt so close to me. The intimacy of it—just her voice and that strumming guitar…

Ditto, much like the 2023 re-master. It seems her voice is way better than I ever thought. And I've always adored her voice.

Reaching out and touching it is such a good "as if"!! It's so true.

Lovely!

That’s the song that made me realize that, as much as I love him, Fleetwood Mac wasn’t getting to the next level with Bob. Put that song on an album full of pop gems and it would still be a radio staple today. I wish they’d have done that live in 1975 with the Buckingham Nicks harmonies.

Wow! Amazing to hear that pristine Christine vocal up front and centre- it was buried in the mix on the original. This would be a massive classic had it appeared on the 75 album- one of her very best and rivals Why and even Songbird. Beautiful exquisite song.

Agreed. She said in an early 80s interview that it was Prove Your Love that she wanted to re-record with Buckingham and Nicks. This would have been the song to do it. I love the album version in all of its glitz and happiness and I love this stripped down somber version. I can talk about Heroes all day so I will stop here ;)

PYL would have been perfect for Lindsey’s production style.

It's just the simple truth. The melody and her core ideas for the song are just brilliant. This demo shows just how solid of a songwriter Christine was.

I agree in part. No dispute that Lindsey polished the band into a hit maker. However Come A Little Bit Closer shows the growth of the band and especially Chris. Songs like this, Silver Heals, and the title track are much more poppy and mainstream compared to earlier Mac albums with Bob and Chris. For example, Come A Little Bit Closer would have really stood out on Bare Trees or almost not fit. With each album release they were getting more American pop. Sometimes I wonder if Bob would have stuck around for another album, what Say You Love Me would have sounded like. IMHO it would have sounded not far from the Buckingham/Nicks version. Granted it may not have been as slick and may not have even been a hit. But the band (mostly Chris and Bob) where harmonizing into blusey pop.

Add to that, Keith had more to do with the sound of the White Album than LB. He really melded MickVies to the B/N equation so nicely. Which was the perfect set up for Rumours and the sounds Ken and Richard made a lot tougher.