"Child of Mine" alludes to Kirwan's biological father not having been part of his life. "The Ghost" was later re-recorded by Bob Welch for His Fleetwood Mac Years and Beyond, Vol. 2 in 2006, albeit this version was only available on the digital edition. "Homeward Bound" alludes to Christine McVie's then dislike of flying and touring, also alluded to in her 1997 track Temporary One. "Sunny Side of Heaven" was an instrumental, which, at the time, was mixed in with some radio station sign-offs. The piece was also performed with Lindsey Buckingham on guitar for some shows in the mid 1970s. "Bare Trees" shares a theme both with the album's cover photography by John McVie and the closing poem "Thoughts On a Grey Day" "Sentimental Lady" was released as a single. It was later re-recorded by its composer Bob Welch for his solo album French Kiss. Welch would record the song again for His Fleetwood Mac Years & Beyond in 2003. "Danny's Chant" features the use of wah-wah guitars. The title is somewhat ironic in that the track is largely an instrumental, although it does have rhythmic, non-verbal backing vocals in the mix. "Spare Me a Little of Your Love" became a staple of the band's live act from 1972–1977. It was also covered by Johnny Rivers on his studio album New Lovers and Old Friends in 1975. Jackie DeShannon recorded a version for her 1972 album Jackie although this did not make the final cut and was not released until 2015. The lyrics for "Dust" were taken from a poem about death written by Rupert Brooke in 1910. Unlike W H Davies who received a credit for the words to Dragonfly, Brooke was not credited here as his copyright had expired. The final track on the album, "Thoughts on a Grey Day", is not a Fleetwood Mac song, but a monaural recorded poem written and supposedly read by an elderly woman, Mrs. Scarrott, who lived near the band's communal home, 'Benifold', in southern England. Bob Welch, however, said in a Penguin Q&A in 1999, "The spoken thing Mick does about 'Trees so bare' was written, I think, by this sweet old lady that lived near Benifold... Mick did an affectionate 'schtick' on her to close the album." Five of the ten tracks were penned by Kirwan. "Trinity", another Kirwan song recorded at the sessions, was subsequently released in 1992 on the 25 Years – The Chain box set.
Commercial performance
Bare Trees debuted at number 175 on US ''Billboard 200 chart dated 22 April 1972. The album reached its peak at number 70 on the chart dated 3 June 1972, after being on the chart for seven weeks. The album ultimately spent a total of 27 weeks on the chart. On 9 February 1988, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over a million copies in the United States.
