Can't Go Back (Fleetwood Mac song)

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"Can't Go Back"
Can't Go Back - Fleetwood Mac (1983 UK single).jpg
Single by Fleetwood Mac
from the album Mirage
B-side "That's Alright"
ReleasedApril 1983 (UK) [1]
Recorded1982
Genre Pop
Length2:42
Label Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s) Lindsey Buckingham
Producer(s) Lindsey Buckingham
Fleetwood Mac
Ken Caillat
Richard Dashut
Fleetwood Mac UKsingles chronology
"Oh Diane"
(1982)		"Can't Go Back"
(1983)		"Big Love"
(1987)

"Can't Go Back" is a song by British-American rock group Fleetwood Mac. It was written and performed by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham for the 1982 album Mirage , the second issued by the band with Buckingham as main producer. In the UK, it was released as the fourth single from the album.

Contents

Background

Along with "Eyes of the World", "Can't Go Back" was one of the two songs that Buckingham brought into the recording studio in Hérouville, France for the Mirage sessions. [2] The song initially began as an instrumental that was built around some interweaving guitar parts and a basic rhythm track. It was later adorned with a more extensive rhythm track from Mick Fleetwood, who multitracked drum fills and auxiliary percussion. [3] An instrumental demo of "Can't Go Back" appears on the 2016 deluxe edition of Mirage under the working title "Suma's Walk". [4]

In the UK, the track was released as the follow-up to the Top 10 hit "Oh Diane" and became the fourth single to be released from the Mirage album in April 1983. It was released on 7" and 12", with the 12" format including "Tusk" and "Over & Over" from the 1979 album Tusk , and "Rhiannon" from 1975 album Fleetwood Mac . The song peaked at number 83 on the UK Singles Chart. [5]

Despite being released as a single, "Can't Go Back" has yet to be included on any retrospective of Fleetwood Mac material; thus it can only be found on its parent album Mirage. [3] In an interview with Classic Rock magazine, Christine McVie expressed her approval of the song and identified the salience of the song's lyrics in relation to their attempt at recreating the success of the band's Rumours album. [6]

Track listings

UK 7" Single (W 9848)

  1. "Can't Go Back" – 2:42
  2. "That's Alright" - 3:09

UK 12" Single (W 9848 T)

  1. "Can't Go Back" – 2:42
  2. "Rhiannon" – 4:13
  3. "Tusk" – 3:38
  4. "Over & Over" – 4:35

Personnel

Chart performance

Chart (1983)Peak
position
UK Singles Chart [5] 83

References

  1. ↑ Evans, Mike (2011). Fleetwood Mac: The Definitive History. New York: Sterling. p. 283. ISBN   978-1-4027-8630-3.
  2. ↑ Fleetwood, Mick; Bozza, Anthony (October 2014). Play On: Now Then & Fleetwood Mac. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company. p. 262. ISBN   978-0-316-40342-9.
  3. 1 2 Roubin, Olivier; Ollivier, Romuald (1 April 2025). Fleetwood Mac: All The Songs. New York: Black Dog Leventhal Publishers. p. 448. ISBN   978-0-7624-8630-4.
  4. ↑ Marchese, Joe (23 June 2016). "Review: Fleetwood Mac, "Mirage: Deluxe Edition"". The Second Disc. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Fleetwood Mac - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  6. ↑ Hasted, Nick (23 June 2022). "Drugs, alcohol and goofing around: The making of Fleetwood Mac's Mirage". Louder . Retrieved 8 June 2025.
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