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.[2]
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.”[3][4] 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.[5] Buckingham used open D tuning on the studio version and also kept a Fender Stratocaster with the same tuning onstage for early live performances.[6]
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.[5] 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.[7]
The 45 RPM single version of the song released for radio airplay was a remixed, edited version that differed from the version on the Fleetwood Mac album. The single version is distinguished by a cold start rather than the fade-in intro on the LP version, louder guitar strums in the choruses, and different vocal harmonies.[2] Additionally, the single version fades during its three-bar instrumental outro[8] whereas the album version tape-loops it to six bars upon fade-out. Further, while the album version has a relatively wide stereo image, the single version is mixed narrowly (essentially mono) with stereo reverberation effects on some bongo passages and select guitar flourishes. The single remix was completed by Deke Richards, who had previously worked with The Jackson 5 on some of their earlier hits.[2]
The aforementioned remixed/edited version is the one included on the compilation album The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac. The single version is also available as a bonus track on the 2004 remastered CD release of the album Fleetwood Mac.[9]
Cash Box wrote that "versatility is again demonstrated with a boiling rhythm subtly driving a soft McCartney-like vocal, shaded by organ and sweet, answering harmony."[10]Record World said the song has a "clean, confident folk-rock sound" and that "Christine McVie takes the lead here over a network of jangly acoustic guitars, singing in a rich, deep voice."[11] In a 1975 review, Billboard described McVie's vocal performance as "a completely distinctive voice, with a sexy huskiness that is unique in pop today."[12]The Guardian and Paste ranked the song number 17 and number 11 respectively on their lists of the 30 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs.[13][14]
