Don't Look Down (Lindsey Buckingham song)

Last updated
"Don't Look Down"
Single by Lindsey Buckingham
from the album Out of the Cradle
Released1993
Genre Rock
Length2:47
3:12 (full version with "Instrumental Introduction To")
Label Reprise
Songwriter(s) Lindsey Buckingham
Producer(s) Lindsey Buckingham, Richard Dashut
Lindsey Buckingham singles chronology
"Soul Drifter"
(1992)		"Don't Look Down"
(1993)		"Twisted"
(1996)

"Don't Look Down" is a song by Lindsey Buckingham, released in 1993 as the final single from his third solo album Out of the Cradle . It only charted in Canada, where it peaked at number 59.

Contents

Background

On "Don't Look Down", Buckingham decided against using a standard drum kit, instead opting to record some rhythms on cardboard boxes. [1] The vocal cadence on "Don't Look Down" follows a 1:1 motion-to-rest ratio over the course of four measures, with the melodic activity occurring for two measures and ending on the downbeat of the third bar. [2] Buckingham saw the song as a demonstration of "musical cubism" where "the shapes of the choruses [are] broken down into facets, much like a Picasso painting." [3] An instrumental guitar passage leads into the song's main riff. [4]

Buckingham originally wanted "Don't Look Down" to be the album's first single, although it was overlooked in favor of "Wrong" in North America and "Countdown" in Europe. [5] After the first few singles from Out of the Cradle failed to chart, Warner Bros opted to lift "Don't Look Down" as the album's next single to coincide with its accompanying tour. [6]

The music video for "Don't Look Down" was recorded with Buckingham's touring band and took around 15 hours to film. Janet Robin, who was one of the guitarists on the Out of the Cradle tour, recalled that Buckingham was involved in making creative decisions for certain shots in the video. [7] Buckingham opted to stage the music video in a documentary style and had it filmed while on tour. [3]

Buckingham commented that live performances of "Don't Look Down" varied in quality depending on the acoustics of the performance venue and the mixing levels. "It fits together like a jigsaw, and its impact hinges on the level of things in relationship to each other, [such as] the vocals coming in loud enough. Certain things have to be really close to being right, at least in my mind, for it to come off." [8]

Critical reception

The New York Times said that "Don't Look Down" opens Out of the Cradle with a sense of "frightened euphoria". [9] Stereo Review wrote that the song begins "with a crisp, pseudo-classical, acoustic-guitar intro that collapses into a tumble of notes before the actual song kicks in with a well-oiled, bossa-flavored beat." [10] Timothy White of Billboard said that the song falls "well within rock's melodic tradition" and features "eccentric constructions and sudden harmonic shifts, each surprise element enhancing their overall appeal." [11] BAM described "Don't Look Down" as "an ode to hope" that should "appeal to an alternative audience." [5]

The Capital Times highlighted the song's "quirky touches" and thought the song was "instantly hummable", positing that the song "succeeds not only because of [its] melodicism, but also because that sound conveys the lyrics' wide-eyed optimism." [12] Philadelphia Daily News stated that "a track like "Don't Look Down" contains a virtual hologram of hooks. Falsetto backup vocals hang in the air over cushiony rhythms, while sprightly guitar lines float in between them." [13] J.D. Considine of Rolling Stone thought that "the song effortlessly captures the balance between languor and lift found in many Fleetwood Mac singles, flowing easily from the measured cadences of the verse to the manic climax of the chorus. Buckingham doesn't stop there, though; he fills the track with all sorts of ear candy, from Mexicali string-band flourishes to sampled voices that bounce the tune along like pinball bumpers." [4]

Personnel

Chart performance

Chart (1993)Peak
position
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [14] 59

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References

  1. ↑ Zollo, Paul (1997). "Songwriters On Songwriting, Expanded Edition". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  2. ↑ Stephenson, Ken (2002). What to Listen For in Rock. United Kingdom: Yale University Press. pp. 7–8. ISBN   0-300-09239-3.
  3. 1 2 "Out of the Cradle Promo Videos". Still Going Insane. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  4. 1 2 Considine, JD (July 9, 1992). "Rolling Stone Review of Out of the Cradle 1992". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  5. 1 2 Holdship, Bill (May 1992). "BAM Magazine, Number 384 (05/1992), Out of the Cradle...And Into The Blue". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  6. ↑ Morris, Chris (March 13, 1993). "Buckingham's Out of the Cradle Again Lines Up Dates With 10-Piece Tour Band" (PDF). Billboard. p. 16.
  7. ↑ "Janet Robin Q&A: Section 2". The Penguin. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  8. ↑ Trubitt, David (June 1993). "Mix Magazine - Live Sounds: Lindsey Buckingham". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  9. ↑ Holden, Stephen (June 21, 1992). "Recordings View: A Studio Wizard Takes a Psychic Journey". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 16, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  10. ↑ Givens, Ron (August 1992). "Stereo Review, Volume 57, Number 8 (08/1992), Sound Recording Reviews: Out of the Cradle". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  11. ↑ White, Timothy (May 23, 1992). "Out of the Cradle (Billboard) Lindsey Rocks the Cradle". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  12. ↑ Rasmussen, Eric (June 25, 1992). "The Capitol Times - Buckingham is Underrated Talent". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  13. ↑ Farber, Jim (June 25, 1992). "Philadelphia Daily News - Buckingham's In His Own Techno-World". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  14. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 822." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
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