These Fleetwood Mac tracks aren’t from the band’s most famous years. While most casual fans only know the band’s Rumours era, these songs are stunners from different iterations of their diverse tenure.
“Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)”
“Now, when the day goes to sleep, and the full moon looks / The night is so black that the darkness cooks / Don’t you come creepin’ around / Makin’ me do things I don’t wanna do,” are the lyrics to “Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)” from Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green era. This psychedelic song explores the corrupting power of money.
Green once described being visited by a dog on a drug trip. “It scared me because I knew the dog had been dead a long time,” he once said. “It was a stray, and I was looking after it. But I was dead and had to fight to get back into my body, which I eventually did. When I woke up, the room was really black, and I found myself writing the song.” The founding member equated the barking dog with financial difficulties, which led him to pen this track.
“Hypnotized”
“Hypnotized” comes from the Bob Welch era of Fleetwood Mac, between Green and before they became global superstars. This song captures a paranormal experience. “It’s the same kind of story / That seems to come down from long ago / Two friends having coffee together / When something flies by their window,” the lyrics read, describing a UFO sighting.
This song bridges the gap between the band’s earliest rootsy days and the sound they would adopt with Nicks and Buckingham.
“Tusk”
“Tusk” belongs to the Nicks and Buckingham era, but it’s not the sound that made them famous. The band could’ve continued with the pop crossover appeal they earned with Rumours, but they decided to get a little off-kilter and adopt a bolder sound.
“Don’t say that you love me / Just tell me that you want me,” the lyrics read over experimental instrumentation orchestrated by Buckingham. This song moved Fleetwood Mac from radio-friendly mainstream back into the world of bold artistry the band’s earliest days were founded on. When we listen to this track, it’s hard to imagine it’s the same band that delivered Rumours. Buckingham proved he wasn’t going to rest on his laurels with this track and the accompanying album.
(Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)
The post 3 Tracks That Show a Side of Fleetwood Mac You Don’t Hear on the Radio appeared first on American Songwriter.
Author: Alex Hopper
« Kenny Chesney’s 36th No. 1 Hit Sat on His Computer for 5 Years Before Finding Its Moment
Remember When Riley Green Was an Underwear Model? [EXCLUSIVE] »