Jackson (1967) – Johnny Cash & June Carter

Posted on September 28, 2025 by observationblogger — 10 Comments

Jackson is a high-spirited, playful, grassroots country song that I’ve returned to more than almost any other Johnny Cash performance over the years. But I shouldn’t just say Johnny – because it’s his wife – June Carter’s country twang and her playful vocal style set against Johnny’s deep, sultry baritone that gives the song its unmistakable flavour. The back-and-forth between them – the hollers, the teasing, the banter – fuels the song’s energy and chemistry. You can see this come alive in their performance on The Johnny Cash Show, featured at the bottom of this post, where June even announces the birth of their son, John Carter Cash.

Jackson was written in 1963 by Billy Edd Wheeler and Jerry Leiber. It is best known as the country hit single by Johnny Cash and June Carter, reaching number two on the Billboard Country Singles chart. It also won a Grammy Award in 1968 for Best Country & Western Performance Duet, Trio or Group. Jackson was previously recorded in 1963 by the Kingston Trio, Wheeler, and Flatt and Scruggs. An aside, it was The Kingston Trio’s 1958 recording of The John B. Sails that was the direct influence on the Beach Boys making of Sloop John B. Another version of Jackson was released by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, which reached No. 14 on the Billboard.

Story (Wikipedia)
The song is about a married couple who find that the “fire” has gone out of their relationship. It relates the desire of both partners to travel to “Jackson” where the husband believes he will be turned loose, be with many women and be practically worshipped as he has his wild time. The wife says he is going to achieve nothing but the damaging of his health and that people are going to see him as a fool. She says she will be there waiting, having her own fun laughing at him.

Writer Billy Edd Wheeler recalled the making of the song:
‘Jackson’ came to me when I read the script for Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (I was too broke to see the play on Broadway)…When I played it for Jerry [Leiber], he said ‘Your first verses suck,’ or words to that effect. ‘Throw them away and start the song with your last verse, “We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout.”‘ When I protested to Jerry that I couldn’t start the song with the climax, he said, ‘Oh, yes you can.’ So I rewrote the song and thanks to Jerry’s editing and help, it worked.’

There has been much speculation regarding which city of Jackson the song is about, but Wheeler said: “Actually, I didn’t have a specific Jackson in mind. I just liked the sharp consonant sound, as opposed to soft-sounding words like Nashville.”

[Verse 1: Both, Johnny Cash]
We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout
We’ve been talkin’ ’bout Jackson ever since the fire went out
I’m going to Jackson, I’m gonna mess around
Yeah, I’m goin’ to Jackson
Look out, Jackson town

[Verse 2: June Carter & Johnny Cash]
Well, go on down to Jackson, go ahead and wreck your health
Go play your hand, you big-talkin’ man, and make a big fool of yourself
Yeah, go to Jackson, go comb your hair
Honey, I’m gonna snowball Jackson
See if I care

[Verse 3: Johnny Cash & June Carter]
When I breeze into that city, people gonna stoop and bow (Hah)
All them women gonna make me, teach ’em what they don’t know how
I’m goin’ to Jackson, you turn-a loose-a my coat
‘Cause I’m goin’ to Jackson
“Goodbye,” that’s all she wrote

[Verse 4: June Carter]
But they’ll laugh at you in Jackson, and I’ll be dancin’ on a Pony Keg
They’ll lead you ’round town like a scolded hound
With your tail tucked between your legs
Yeah, go to Jackson, you big-talkin’ man
And I’ll be waitin’ in Jackson, behind my Japan Fan

[Verse 5: Both]
Well now, we got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout
We’ve been talkin’ ’bout Jackson ever since the fire went out
I’m goin’ to Jackson, and that’s a fact
Yeah, we’re goin’ to Jackson
Ain’t never comin’ back

[Outro: Johnny Cash, Both]
Well, we got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout
Honey, we’ve been talkin’ ’bout Jackson, ever since the fire went

References:
1. Jackson (song) – Wikipedia

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Russian Inspired Music on the Bogotá Transmilenio (26-9-2025)

Posted on September 27, 2025 by observationblogger — 9 Comments

Yesterday I recorded a duo performing on the Transmilenio — Bogotá’s bus rapid transit (BRT) system. In the background of the video you can see the Bogotá Metro under construction: a 24 km (15 mi) elevated, driverless, automated rapid transit line. The inset image is a digital rendering showing how the Transmilenio below and the Metro above will look once the Metro opens, projected for March 2028.

One of the perks of being a regular TransMilenio passenger is getting to witness talented and sometimes unorthodox musical acts I’d never encounter otherwise. The duo I recorded yesterday was one such example. The passengers in attendance clearly enjoyed the performance, rewarding them generously with loose change.

The young man on the left of the video is playing a melodica, also known as a keyboard harmonica or Pianica. It’s a small, handheld, breath-powered keyboard instrument that produces sound when air is blown across thin metal reeds, much like a harmonica or accordion.

From the outset they sounded wonderful, and I felt compelled to capture the moment. It was hard to keep my phone steady – my legs wanted to bop along. They told us the second piece they performed (presented above) drew from Russian musical traditions, perhaps even Polka? – that lively, upbeat style rooted in frenzied folk dances. Any Russian or Balkan folk music experts in the house?

Of course, the video — obstructed by poles, barriers, and the limitations of a mobile mic – can’t quite replicate the live, in-person experience. Still, I hope you enjoy it. If you liked what you heard, I’ve also included below a longer clip of their first piece.

Anyway, signing off now from an overcast Saturday morning high up in the Andes. ‘Hooroo’ from your resident Aussie.

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Can Can (Orpheus In The Underworld) 1858 – Jacques Offenbach

Posted on September 26, 2025 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

Apart from being one of the world’s most famous pieces of music, the Can-Can must also be one of the most joyfully mischievous. Its popularity became enduring when, 15 years after composer Offenbach’s death, the Moulin Rouge and the Folies Bergère adopted it as the regular accompaniment to their can-can dance. In case you were wondering like me, the can-can is a high-energy, physically demanding dance that became a popular music-hall dance in the 1840s, continuing in popularity in French cabaret to this day. Originally danced by couples, it is now traditionally associated with a chorus line of female dancers (see image inset).

Poster for Paris revival, 1878

The piece is the Galop Infernal from Act 2 of Jacques Offenbach’s Comic Opera – Orpheus in the Underworld.

Opera Overview (from Wikipedia)
The opera is a lampoon of the ancient legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. In this version Orpheus is not the son of Apollo but a rustic violin teacher. He is glad to be rid of his wife, Eurydice, when she is abducted by the god of the underworld, Pluto. Orpheus has to be bullied by Public Opinion into trying to rescue Eurydice. The reprehensible conduct of the gods of Olympus in the opera was widely seen as a veiled satire of the court and government of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. 

Some critics expressed outrage at the librettists’ disrespect for classic mythology and the composer’s parody of Gluck’s opera Orfeo ed Euridice; while others praised the piece highly. The original 1858 production became a box-office success, and ran well into the following year, rescuing Offenbach and his Bouffes company from financial difficulty. The 1874 revival broke records at the Gaîté’s box-office. The work was frequently staged in France and internationally during the composer’s lifetime and throughout the 20th century. It is one of his most often performed operas, and continues to be revived in the 21st century.

References:
1. Orpheus in the Underworld – Wikipedia

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Baby Can I Hold You (1988) – Tracy Chapman

Posted on September 25, 2025 by observationblogger — 6 Comments

This beautiful love song is one of the few Tracy Chapman pieces I regret leaving out when I first launched my Music Library Project back in 2019. Unlike much of Chapman’s work, which often leans toward social and political commentary, Baby Can I Hold You turns inward, exploring the fragility of personal relationships. Released in October 1988 as the third and final single from her debut album Tracy Chapman, the track surprisingly underperformed in the U.S., peaking only at No. 48 on the Billboard chart – though, curiously, it reached No. 1 in Brazil and Portugal. As an aside, I’ve noticed that Chapman’s music resonates strongly here in Colombia too.

When you listen to the words of Baby Can I Hold You along with the melody – it’s hard not to be swept up in it – where it makes your heart melt – and you end up craving for reconciliation on the narrator’s behalf. Anthropomorphically, this song feels as vulnerable as a baby – one you just want to cradle and protect. Chapman is pleading for the simplest of gestures: words like “sorry” or “forgive me,” signals of repair for past wounds. It doesn’t have to be that, they can just say ‘Baby Can I Hold You Tonight‘ – serving as a heartfelt request for closeness and intimacy that may bridge the emotional gaps that words often fail to fill.

The song is so relatable as well – it inevitably stirs memories of a lost love or someone just out of reach. The irony is that the song carries with it a strange sense of hope: when love runs so deep, reconnection feels possible, even if only in spirit.

Tracy Chapman (b. March 30, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter renowned for her soulful voice, socially conscious lyrics, and understated acoustic style. Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Chapman developed a passion for music early on, eventually studying at Tufts University where she began performing in coffeehouses. She rose to international fame with her self-titled 1988 debut album, which featured hits like Fast Car and Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution, earning her three Grammy Awards and cementing her as one of the most distinctive voices of her generation.

[Verse 1]
Sorry
Is all that you can’t say
Years gone by and still
Words don’t come easily
Like sorry, like sorry

[Verse 2]
Forgive me
Is all that you can’t say
Years gone by and still
Words don’t come easily
Like forgive me, forgive me

[Chorus]
But you can say baby
Baby can I hold you tonight
Maybe if I told you the right words
At the right time
You’d be mine

[Verse 3]
I love you
Is all that you can’t say
Years gone by and still
Words don’t come easily
Like I love you, I love you

[Chorus]

[Outro]
Baby can I hold you tonight
Maybe if I told you the right words
At the right time, you’d be mine
You’d be mine
You’d be mine

References:
1. Baby Can I Hold You – Wikipedia

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Second Chance (1988) – 38 Special

Posted on September 24, 2025 by observationblogger — 8 Comments

When I was 14, I owned the Australian cassette release of today’s featured song (image above), Second Chance by 38 Special. I had completely forgotten both the song and the fact that I even owned it – until yesterday, when I was at a Bogotá shopping mall called El Parque Colina. The song came out over the loudspeakers, and I nearly spat out my coffee – suddenly being reunited with it after so many years. I quickly jotted down some lyrics in my “Quick Memo” app so I could track it down later. The real question was: would my 51-year-old self still find it as captivating as I did at 14? That’s where we are today.

The music video, for starters, couldn’t be more unapologetically ’80s in terms of fashion and hair. To me, Second Chance feels like the male counterpart to Heart’s Alone, which came out just a year earlier in 1987. The guys in 38 Special strutted around almost sporting ‘mullets’ – “business in the front, party in the back.” Meanwhile, in Heart’s video, the women were rocking hair so tall and lacquered…. enough hairspray to kill your ordinary cat. For the guys in 38 Special, their look was quite a departure from their earlier Southern Rock image in the Lynyrd Skynyrd vein. Some even argue they were the bridge between Southern Rock and ’80s rock – but no one really talks about it. May be because Southern Rock purists would rip you a new one if you did.

So, the answer to the $64,000 question of whether this song still holds up for me after 37 years? No, definitely not – but for nostalgia’s sake, it’s well worth the stroll down memory lane to my ’80s dumb-some-teen self and the laughs. Now onto the song (mostly abridged from the Wikipedia article below):

Second Chance was from American rock band 38 Special, and their eighth studio album, 1988’s Rock & Roll Strategy. The rock ballad was released as the album’s second single becoming the band’s highest-charting song in the United States. This song, of which Carl was the lead vocalist, showcases a stylistic departure from their signature Southern rock sound.

38 Special’s original frontman Don Barnes didn’t feel that it was really a 38 Special song.” When Max Carl replaced Don Barnes in 38 Special in 1988, Carlisi played the demo – originally titled “I Never Wanted Anyone Else But You” for Carl who remarked that “the guy in the song sounded like a real jerk“; Carlisi’s reply: “yeah, but a lot of people have been through this and want forgiveness” and Carl’s response: “yeah, maybe the guy needs a second chance” led to the song’s being reworked with a new lyric: “A heart needs a second chance” as its main hook line.

Second Chance entered the U.S. Billboard at No.78 in February 1989. The song was the highest-charting Hot 100 single of the band’s career, as it peaked at No.6 in May 1989 and spent 21 weeks on the chart. It was Billboard magazine’s “Adult Contemporary Song of the Year” for 1989. The single peaked at No.2 in Canada and No.14 in Australia, and was on the chart for 12 weeks.

Although Second Chance remains 38 Special’s top career record, Carlisi said in 2009, “To this day when the name 38 Special comes up nobody says ‘Second Chance’! It was our biggest hit but people always think of ‘Hold On Loosely’ or ‘Caught Up in You’ first.”

[Verse 1]
Since you’ve been gone
I feel my life slipping away
I look to the sky
And everything is turnin’ gray
All I made was one mistake
How much more will I have to pay
Why can’t you think it over
Why can’t you forget about the past

[Chorus]
When love makes a sound, babe
A heart needs a second chance
Don’t put me down, babe
Can’t you see I love you
Since you’ve been gone, I’ve been in a trance
This heart needs a second chance
Don’t say it’s over, I just can’t say goodbye

[Verse 2]
So this is love
Standing in the pouring rain
I fooled on you
But she never meant a thing
And I know I ain’t got no right
To ask you to sympathize
But why can’t you think it over
Why can’t you forget about the past

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
I never loved her
I never needed her
She was willing, and that’s all there is to say
Don’t forsake me
Please don’t leave me now
A heart needs a second chance

Yeah, you’ve been gone, and I’ve been in a trance
This heart needs a second chance
Don’t say it’s over, I just can’t say goodbye

Please forgive me and forget it
I was wrong and I admit it
Why can’t we talk it over
Why can’t we forget about, forget about the past

References:
1. Second Chance (38 Special song) – Wikipedia

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These Days (1973) – Jackson Browne (inc. version by Nico)

Posted on September 23, 2025 by observationblogger — 5 Comments

I was watching The Royal Tenenbaums a few weeks ago with my daughter Katherine, enjoying its superb soundtrack, which includes today’s featured song. But it’s not Jackson Browne’s original – it’s a version by Nico (pictured left). Today’s post will, in a sense, be a double billing of the same song, with both versions appearing at the end.

These Days might suggest it was the product of long experience, but it was actually written by Jackson Browne at the age of 16. Nico’s version, originally released on her 1967 Chelsea Girls album, was re-popularized on the acclaimed Royal Tennenbaums soundtrack as aforementioned along with her recording of Fairest of the Seasons, also written by Browne and featuring his guitar. Gregg Allman also recorded a new arrangement of These Days for his 1973 LP Laid Back.

From The New York Times article below:

When he was 16, Jack Browne sat down at his parents’ kitchen table in Fullerton, Calif., and started picking out a tune on an old Kay guitar. In 1965, the fledgling songwriter and high school junior — inspired by books, records and his own suburban disaffection — began weaving together an existential number about loss and regret called “These Days.” It would be a year until he finished the song, nearly a decade before he recorded it properly. By the time Jackson Browne, as he would be known professionally, cut it for his 1973 album “For Everyman”.

“These Days” has rambled through the decades, morphing musically, changing lyrically and taking on added layers of meaning. “In that regard, it’s sort of like a folk song,” Browne said on a late August afternoon, sitting in the control room of his Santa Monica recording studio, Groove Masters.

“I come from folk music, that was my school,” continued Browne, somehow still boyish and bright-eyed at 75. “You’d learn several versions of the same song and adapt the parts of it that you liked and it’d become something else. That’s what’s happened with ‘These Days.’”

While introducing the song live, Browne recalled recording the song with Nico and Andy Warhol, and his impressions of its later use in The Royal Tenenbaums:

I wrote this when I was about 16… and then several people recorded it before I had the chance to. But I think I did play on the first recorded version. It was a record made by a singer named Nico, who had been in the Velvet Underground and was making a solo record. I didn’t play acoustic guitar, even though I played this very thing, ‘cause Andy Warhol, who was sort of managing her, thought she should sound more modern, so I played an electric guitar. Then they put a string quartet on it, that was really modern.

Jackson Browne later said about the use These Days in The Royal Tenenbaums: I forgot that I’d licensed them to use this song. And this is one of those things that comes to you in the mail and you don’t know what they’re talking about and you simply give them their permission. You’re sitting in the movie theater and there’s this great moment when Gwyneth Paltrow is coming out of a bus or something like that. I’m thinking to myself, I used to play the guitar just like that. And then the voice comes on and it’s Nico singing ‘These Days’, which I played on.”

[Verse 1]
Well, I’ve been out walking
I don’t do that much talking these days
These days
These days I seem to think a lot
About the things that I forgot to do
For you
And all the times I had the chance to

[Verse 2]
And I had a lover
But it’s so hard to risk another these days
These days
Now if I seem to be afraid
To live the life that I have made in song
Well, it’s just that I’ve been losing
For so long

[Verse 3]
Well, I’ll keep on moving
Moving on
Things are bound to be improving
These days
One of these days
These days I’ll sit on cornerstones
And count the time in quarter tones to ten
My friend
Don’t confront me with my failures
I had not forgotten them

[Outro]
Ah

References:
1. These Days – Jackson Browne – Genius Lyrics
2. These Days (Jackson Browne song) – Wikipedia
3. The Song That Connects Jackson Browne, Nico and Margot Tenenbaum – The New York Times

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15/9/25 – 21/9/25 – Positively 4th Street, Emotional Support Alligator & Hemingway

Posted on September 22, 2025 by observationblogger — 7 Comments
news on the march

Welcome to Monday’s News on the March – The week that was in my digital world.

Bob Dylan Performs, Positively 4th Street, at Outlaw Festival, Saratoga Springs 2 August 2025
Concert video at Music Legend

Two blogger friends – Max (PowerPop) and Christian (@Music Musings), had the good fortune to see Bob Dylan recently at the 10th anniversary Outlaw Music Festival. So naturally, I have been paying closer attention to performances from Dylan on the tour. Lo and behold, this fantastic performance of Positively 4th Street turned up – a song I wrote about here back in February last year. Max and I agreed this rendition comes pretty close to the original. Also, he pulls off some magic with his vocal intonations. Two other performances I love from the tour, both from the same show (20/6/25) which I added to my Music Library Project are the following:

  • Desolation Row I love his jangly saloon-bar piano playing. Just a fantastic sound from a bygone era. Despite being 84 years old he can always find a way to get something new out of a song, and
  • Under The Red Sky Bob’s vocals here are great. Wonderful performance of a very underrated song.

Emotional support alligator helps man with deep depression
News interview at CBS Evening News

I’m not usually fond of clickbait news snippets of strange stories, but I found myself chuckling and downright baffled, wondering how this was legal in the first place.

Story description: When you think of emotional support animals, you may think of dogs or cats. But one Pennsylvania man has an alligator named Wally. Steve Hartman shares more in “On the Road.”

Someone wrote in response: How ironic that his alligator helps him with depression but causes anxiety to everyone who walks by.

Hemingway – “The Blank Page” (1944-1961): Episode Three (2021) | Full Documentary
PBS America Documentary

I have always been fascinated by anything related to the legendary American writer Ernest Hemingway. In 2019, I wrote a four-part series about my favourite of his books, The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway was such an enigmatic, larger-than-life figure that his biography – captured in this PBS America documentary – is as engrossing and audacious as reading one of his novels. Not so uncanny, considering that much of his fiction drew directly from his own experiences in World War I, Paris and Spain (1920’s) as well as his time covering conflicts like the Spanish Civil War and World War II, where he reported from the front lines and often blurred the boundary between observer and participant.

Documentary Description: Hemingway, reeling from his split with Martha, attaches himself to the U.S. Army as it moves through Normandy and liberates Paris. After the war he tries to start a new life with Mary Welsh but is beset with personal tragedies and professional mishaps. He publishes The Old Man and the Sea and wins the Nobel Prize but eventually is overcome by addiction, physical trauma and depression.

That is all. Thank you for reading.

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Inspiração (1947) – Aníbal Augusto Sardinha (Interpreted by Camilo Giraldo Angel)

Posted on September 21, 2025 by observationblogger — 9 Comments

My new favourite place to frequent in my adopted home city of Bogotá, Colombia is the Cultural Centre – Julio Mario Santo Domingo, which houses both a massive library and mayor theatre. Last Saturday evening I had the good fortune of attending a recital by Colombian classical guitarist Camilo Giraldo at the Teatro Mayor. We received the above brochure/program just before the show was called to begin.

Today’s featured piece is Inspiração (Inspiration) by Brazilian composer Aníbal Augusto Sardinha (1915–1955), which Camilo performed second in the program. Since mobile phone use and recording were prohibited during the concert, I’ve shared another interpretation of the same piece by Camilo at the end of this post.

According to his biography, Camilo is a musician who stands out for his versatility in the field of composition, production, teaching and guitar performance. A graduate of ISA (Higher Institute of Arts, Havana, Cuba), where he studied composition with Leo Brouwer and Tulio Peramo, and instrumental studies with Jesús Ortega Rey Guerra and Alejandro González, he also received master classes with John Williams, Pepe Romero, Eliot Fisk, and Costas Cotsiolis, among others.

Upon completing his studies, he returned to Colombia, where he has given numerous classical guitar concerts. His work has been recognized with various incentives, such as concert series by the former IDCT (on several occasions he obtained the highest score in the professional category of academic music), and as a guitar soloist.

The composer of today’s piece – Inspiração was Aníbal Augusto Sardinha (1915–1955), better known by his stage name Garoto (“the boy”). He was a pioneering Brazilian guitarist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist whose work bridged the worlds of choro, samba, and early bossa nova. Born in São Paulo, he displayed extraordinary talent from a young age, mastering both guitar and cavaquinho before becoming a professional musician in his teens. Garoto gained national fame in the 1930s through radio performances and collaborations with leading samba and choro musicians, later performing internationally—including in the United States with Carmen Miranda’s band. Despite his early death of a heart attack at just 39, Garoto left behind a remarkable legacy, with compositions such as Inspiração, Desvairada, and Lamentos do Morro cementing his place as one of Brazil’s most important guitar innovators.

Reference:
1. Garoto (composer) – Wikipedia

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Simple Life (1992) – Elton John

Posted on September 20, 2025 by observationblogger — 1 Comment

Simple Life is yet another great song from Elton John’s underrated 1992 album The One (image inset). It is more restrained and introspective than his high-energy, piano-driven music of his 1970s and 1980s peak. The song – the final single from The One was written during a period when John was actively rebuilding his life after overcoming drug addiction and bulimia in the early 1990s. It features a slower tempo, and understated piano, and a prominently featured yet plaintive harmonica that lends the song a rootsy texture. Overall, the song creates a quiet, determined energy and a sense of optimism.

This personal journey as represented in the song is an affirmation of a new, more grounded lifestyle, emphasizing independence and resilience after a history of dependency. Also the lyrics, penned by his longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin, are more directly autobiographical than many of their earlier works. The song’s message of seeking simplicity and inner strength after a turbulent past is similar to the reflective tone of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

The following was abridged from the Wikipedia article below:

Simple Life was John’s thirteenth number one on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and reached number 30 on the Billboard. This song’s appearance in the US top 40 set a record, as John had achieved a top-40 hit for 24 consecutive years, breaking the old record of 23 years set by Elvis Presley in 1977. John regularly performed Simple Life at his concerts from 1992 to 1998. He often paired the song with The One.

[Verse 1]
There’s a breakdown on the runway
And the timeless flights are gone
I’m a year ahead of myself these days
And I’m locomotive strong
My city spread like cannon fire
In a yellow nervous state
I can’t cut the ties that bind me
To horoscopes and fate

[Chorus]
And I won’t break and I won’t bend
But someday soon we’ll sail away
To innocence and the bitter end
And I won’t break and I won’t bend
And with the last breath we ever take
We’re going to get back to the simple life again

[Verse 2]
When we break out of this blindfold
I’m gonna take you from this place
Until we’re free from this ball and chain
I’m still hard behind the eight
My city beats like hammered steel
On a shallow cruel rock
If we could walk proud after midnight
We’d never have to stop

References:
1. Simple Life (Elton John song) – Wikipedia

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Go Your Own Way (1976) – Fleetwood Mac

Posted on September 19, 2025 by observationblogger — 14 Comments

The classic break-up rock song Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac had inexplicably flown under my radar for decades – until a friend put it on last weekend. Although I’m far from well acquainted with Fleetwood Mac’s full discography, Everywhere and Songbird remain favourites of mine, along with this track. It appears on the British-American rock group’s 11th studio album, Rumours (1977), and became their first top 10 hit in the United States. Over the years, it has stood out as one of their defining songs. Rolling Stone ranked it number 120 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and second on their list of the 50 Greatest Fleetwood Mac Songs.

Lyrically, the song captures the bitterness and emotional fallout of a breakup. Lindsey Buckingham, the band’s co-lead vocalist and songwriter, wrote it about the end of his relationship with Stevie Nicks, expressing his anger and sense of rejection. He described it as “a stream of consciousness” that focused on his raw emotions – reflecting his perspective that Nicks was the one who ended the relationship and chose to “go her own way,”. The line “Packing up, shacking up is all you want to do,” were seen by Nicks as a personal attack, and she reportedly wanted the line removed, highlighting the intense personal conflict behind the music. Nicks’ own song Dreams, was written as a counterpoint to Buckingham’s message, making the two tracks a musical exchange between two people who were both hurt and angry.

Recorded in three separate studios, the track was developed over a period of four months. As with most tracks on the Rumours album, none of the instruments were recorded live together; the tracks were instead completed through a series of overdubs. Go Your Own Way was written at a house the band rented in Florida between legs of their Fleetwood Mac Tour and was the first song Buckingham presented to the band for the Rumours album. Mick Fleetwood, the band’s drummer, remembered that the house had a “distinctly bad vibe to it, as if it were haunted, which did nothing to help matters“.

Loving you isn’t the right thing to do
How can I ever change things that I feel?
If I could, maybe I’d give you my world
How can I when you won’t take it from me?

[Chorus]
You can go your own way, go your own way
You can call it another lonely day
You can go your own way, go your own way

Tell me why everything turned around
Packing up, shacking up’s all you wanna do
If I could, baby, I’d give you my world
Open up, everything’s waiting for you

References:
1. Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac

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