"Second Hand News" | |
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Song by Fleetwood Mac | |
from the album Rumours | |
Released | February 4, 1977 |
Recorded | 1976 |
Genre | Folk rock, pop rock |
Length | 2:43 |
Label | Warner Bros. |
Songwriter(s) | Lindsey Buckingham |
Producer(s) | Fleetwood Mac, Ken Caillat & Richard Dashut |
"Second Hand News" is a song written by Lindsey Buckingham. The song was first performed by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac as the opening track of their 1977 album Rumours .
"Second Hand News" was a frontrunner for the lead track off of the album Rumours. [1] According to author Jacob Hoye, its opening lines "I know there's nothing to say/Someone has taken my place" set the mood for the entire album. [2] "Second Hand News" is one of several songs on Rumours that reflects the romantic breakup of Buckingham and bandmate Stevie Nicks. [3] The song was inspired by the redemption Buckingham was finding in other women after the failed relationship with Nicks. [3] [4] He sings that although he does not trust his lover and cannot live with her, he cannot live without her either. [5] [6] Fleetwood Mac biographer Donald Brackett highlights the irony of lines such as "One thing I think you should know/I ain't gonna miss you when you go." [5]
According to Buckingham, the song incorporates Scottish and Irish folk song influences. [1] Buckingham originally introduced the song to the band on the guitar without any lyrics, with the working title of "Strummer." [7] "Strummer" has appeared on various reissues of "Rumours", including the 3-disc edition released in 2013. Buckingham initially withheld the lyrics to avoid getting into an argument with Nicks over them. [7]
The band initially played the song in a march rhythm, [1] although Buckingham suggested a disco-like groove for the song after hearing the Bee Gees' "Jive Talkin'". [3] Buckingham and co-producer Richard Dashut built up the song with four audio tracks of electric guitar and the use of chair percussion to evoke Celtic rock. [7] [8] A Naugahyde chair was struck with drum sticks to create the unusual percussion sound. [7] [9] Originally, John McVie contributed a bass part that Ken Caillat described as "melodic" and "flowing". However, when McVie was on vacation, Buckingham put down his own bassline, one that was very simple, just quarter notes. “It worked, though. Buckingham had a grand plan in his head, and he got his way. This was the start of him really calling the shots. It became a ‘my way or the highway’ thing with him, which he perfected on the Tusk album.” [10] McVie would eventually rerecord the bass guitar part in accordance with Buckingham's instructions, but he made slight changes to make the part his own. [7]
Around late May, Buckingham suggested that Fleetwood play an "aggressive" tom-tom part during the choruses. Buckingham mimed the parts for him in the control room, which Caillat described in his 2012 book, Making of Rumours. "It looked as if Lindsey was showing Mick how to kill a snake with his bare fists. He was screaming out the drumbeats with his voice, while his arms flailed wildly in rhythm. It was a very young and aggressive drum part, much in keeping with the bass part he wanted to get from John." [7] After five to six takes, Fleetwood suggested that Buckingham record the part to demonstrate how it should be played. Upon hearing the playback, Fleetwood decided that Buckingham was better equipped to record the tom-tom part. During the same day, Fleetwood spent several hours overdubbing some splash cymbal crashes; the band later kept the cymbal ad-libs they believed sounded the best, although Fleetwood later expressed his disappointment over the final result. "My version is in very random places. They don’t really make any sense. They’re in time, but they’re in very odd places, and they’re not uniform." [7]
During the guitar solo, the band overlaid a wordless vocal to enhance the effect. [1] Music journalist Chuck Eddy uses this as a prime example of rock musicians using vocals as a bassline. [11] According to author Cath Carroll, Buckingham's "syncopated scat singing" on this part and his singing on the "vigorous chorus" provides energy to the song. [6] Carroll also praises Mick Fleetwood's drumming on the chorus as being some of his best. [6] Carroll sums up the song by stating that "the romping acoustic guitars, pounding piano, and vigorous vocals combine in the final mix as an exuberant and hyper-rhythmic whole." [6]
Pitchfork critic Jessica Hopper describes "Second Hand News" as "perhaps the most euphoric ode to rebound chicks ever written." [12] She describes it as being similar to the hit single "Go Your Own Way" in being "upbeat but totally fuck you." [12] Rolling Stone magazine critic John Swenson claimed that "Second Hand News" was almost as good as "Go Your Own Way." [13] He says that despite being about the breakup of his relationship with Nicks, the song is "anything but morose, and completely outdoes the Eagles in the kiss-off genre." [13] Musically, Swenson claims that "the chunking acoustic guitar rhythm carries the song to a joyful chorus," resulting in "timeless pop harmony." [13] Hoye considers "Second Hand News" to be an example of one of the lesser-known songs on Rumours that is "just as great as the hits." [2] Author Tracie Ratiner describes "Second Hand News" as one of Fleetwood Mac's "trademark songs." [14] BBC critic Daryl Easlea calls the refrain "euphoric." [15] Classic Rock History critic Millie Zeiler rated it Buckingham's 4th best song with Fleetwood Mac. [3]
"Second Hand News" was included on the Fleetwood Mac compilation albums 25 Years – The Chain in 1992 and The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac in 2002. [16] The track has also appeared on a couple of live set lists, including their 2013 tour and their 2018-2019 An Evening with Fleetwood Mac tour. [17] [18]
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [19] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
"Second Hand News" | |
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Single by Julienne Taylor | |
from the album Racing the Clouds Home | |
B-side | "Rose of the Sweethay"/"Woolball" |
Released | 2000 |
Genre | Pop |
Length | 2:45 |
Songwriter(s) | Lindsey Buckingham |
Mates of State covered "Second Hand News" on their 2010 album Crushes (The Covers Mixtape) . Mates of State member Jason Hammel suggested that this was "the weirdest" challenge they faced on the album. [20] The Mates of State version begins with a reggae beat, which Hammel thought people might hate, but felt that "if people need to be stoned to enjoy this one, so be it." [20]
Tonic covered the song on the 1998 tribute album Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. [21]
Julienne Taylor covered the song on her 2002 album Racing the Clouds Home and as a single. [22]
Kid Rock sampled "Second Hand News" for the bassline of his 1998 song "Wasting Time." [23]
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band formed in London in 1967 by guitarist and singer Peter Green. Green recruited Mick Fleetwood, Jeremy Spencer and Bob Brunning, with John McVie replacing Brunning a few weeks after their first public appearance. Danny Kirwan joined the band in 1968. Christine Perfect, who contributed as a session musician starting with the band's second album, married McVie and joined Fleetwood Mac as an official member in July 1970, two months after Green left the band, becoming known as Christine McVie.
Lindsey Adams Buckingham is an American musician and record producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has released seven solo studio albums and three live albums. As a member of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Buckingham was ranked 100th in Rolling Stone's 2011 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Buckingham is known for his fingerpicking guitar style.
Tusk is the twelfth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released as a double album on 12 October 1979 by Warner Bros. Records. It is considered more experimental than their previous albums, partly as a consequence of Lindsey Buckingham's sparser songwriting arrangements and the influence of post-punk. The production costs were initially estimated to be about $1 million but many years later were revealed to be about $1.4 million, making it the most expensive rock album recorded to that date.
Rumours is the eleventh studio album by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 4 February 1977 by Warner Bros. Records. Largely recorded in California in 1976, it was produced by the band with Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut. The recording sessions took place in the aftermath of several relationship breakups among the band members in addition to heavy drug use, both of which shaped the album's direction and lyrics.
The Dance is a live album by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 19 August 1997. It hailed the return of the band's most successful lineup of Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Stevie Nicks, who had not released an album together since 1987's Tango in the Night, a decade earlier. It was the first Fleetwood Mac release to top the U.S. album charts since 1982's Mirage.
"Don't Stop" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, written by vocalist and keyboard player Christine McVie. The song was sung by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie, and it was a single taken from the band's hit album Rumours (1977).
"Gold Dust Woman" is a song from British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac's 11th studio album, Rumours (1977). The song was written and sung by Stevie Nicks and released as a B-side to the "Don't Stop" single and the "You Make Loving Fun" single. The song's title, "Gold Dust Woman", comes from Gold Dust Lane, a street in Wickenburg, Arizona where Nicks spent time as a child.
"Go Your Own Way" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac from their eleventh studio album, Rumours (1977). The song was released as the album's first single in December 1976 on both sides of the Atlantic. Written and sung by Lindsey Buckingham, it became the band's first top-ten hit in the United States. "Go Your Own Way" has been well received by music critics and was ranked number 120 by Rolling Stone magazine on their list of 500 greatest songs of all time in 2010, and re-ranked number 401 in 2021. They also ranked the song second on their list of the 50 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs.
"Never Going Back Again" is a song written by Lindsey Buckingham that was first released by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac on their eleventh studio album Rumours (1977). The song was also released as the B-side to the Top Ten single "Don't Stop" in the US and the "You Make Loving Fun" single in the UK. It was also the B-side of "Dreams" in the Netherlands. "Never Going Back Again" has been covered by other artists, including Colin Reid and Matchbox Twenty.
Live in Boston is a live performance video/music album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 15 June 2004. The concert was filmed on 23–24 September 2003 at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts during the group's Say You Will Tour. The concert is a double DVD set, and also comes with a sampler CD, containing the audio of ten songs from the show. Part of WTTW's Soundstage series also chronicled Buckingham and Nicks solo in 2005 and 2008 respectively.
"The Chain" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on their 1977 album Rumours. It is the only song from the album with writing credits for all five members.
"You Make Loving Fun" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, written and sung by Christine McVie. It was released as the fourth and final 45 rpm single from the band's 1977 album Rumours. "You Make Loving Fun" peaked at No. 9 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became the album's fourth top-ten hit.
Live is a double live album released by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac on 5 December 1980. It was the first live album from the then-current line-up of the band, and the next would be The Dance from 1997. The album was certified gold by the RIAA in November 1981. A deluxe edition of the album was released on 9 April 2021.
"I'm So Afraid" is a song written by Lindsey Buckingham for the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac for their tenth album, Fleetwood Mac. The song was intended for a second Buckingham Nicks album, but the album never came to fruition.
"I Don't Want to Know" is a song written by Stevie Nicks which was first released by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac on their 1977 album Rumours.
"I Know I'm Not Wrong" is a song by Fleetwood Mac from the 1979 double LP Tusk. It was recorded as the final song of side three of the LP on 19 September 1979, written by Lindsey Buckingham, whose sparser songwriting arrangements and the influence of punk rock and new wave were the leading creative force on it and other Tusk tracks. It was both the first and last song worked on for the Tusk album, and took almost a year to complete.
"Oh Daddy" is a song written by Christine McVie that was first performed by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac as the tenth song off their 1977 album Rumours.
"Tango in the Night" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac from their album of the same name. Although "Tango in the Night" was not released as a single, it received airplay and reached No. 28 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. However, the title track was overshadowed by the album's hit singles.
"World Turning" is a song written by Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham for the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac's tenth album, Fleetwood Mac.
"Not That Funny" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1980. Composed and sung by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, it was written as a response to the punk movement in the late 1970s.
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