6 Essential Fleetwood Mac Songs Written by Lindsey Buckingham

When Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac, they proved to be more than just musicians who contributed but faded into the background. They became part of the driving force of the band for the rest of its career. They both made major contributions, and they were often the creative force behind some of the band’s biggest and best songs. Buckingham, in particular, had a few bangers.

“Go Your Own Way”


Much of both Buckingham and Nicks’ songwriting for Rumours was fueled by their breakup. Buckingham shared his perspective on “Go Your Own Way,” the biggest hit he wrote for the band. That was much to the dismay of Nicks, who’s long been outspoken about her dislike of the second verse in particular.

“Never Going Back Again”

One of the lesser-known songs on Rumours is the simple “Never Going Back Again”. It’s another breakup song about Nicks and not repeating past mistakes. “It was about Stevie, and it was also about meeting somebody else,” Buckingham said. “It seemed to reaffirm that there was life after that, and yet, you create this illusion of ‘I was down once or twice, but I’m never going back to that again.’ Which is not really the way it works.”

“Monday Morning”

As the opening track on Fleetwood Mac’s 1975 self-titled album, “Monday Morning” was fans’ first introduction to the band’s new era with Buckingham and Nicks. “Stevie and I, through our struggles with Buckingham Nicks, had had personal problems and had broken up and gotten back together, and she was being a bit fickle about things,” Buckingham explained. “And the song really was just addressing the fact that maybe on Monday everything was great, but by Friday things weren’t so great.”

“Second Hand News”

Buckingham wrote Rumours opening track “Second Hand News” yet again about his split from Nicks. Musically, the song pulls from Celtic influences and was originally an acoustic track titled “Strummer” until Buckingham heard the Bee Gees’ “Jive Talkin’”. He was inspired to speed it up and emulate the disco sound.

“Tusk”

“Tusk” from the 1979 album of the same name, was built around a riff Buckingham used during the band’s sound checks. It had the working title of “Stage Riff”. Buckingham was experimenting a lot with sounds at the time and recorded his vocals in his bathroom, using a microphone on the floor. The song also features the USC Marching Band.

“Big Love”

Buckingham originally intended for “Big Love” to be a solo released while Fleetwood Mac was on hiatus in the early 80s, but instead, it became the first single released from 1987’s Tango in the Night. He once described it as a “lustful mid-to-up-tempo number featuring love grunts,” referring to the suggestive back-and-forth vocalizations.

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