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The Penguin Discography: Honey Hi




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    Song Title »
Honey Hi
    Authors »
Christine McVie

    Year Written »
1979

    This Performance »
Date Performance 1979-00-00
Running Time 2:43
Sound Clip Listen.
Performers Stevie Nicks (Vocals), Lindsey Buckingham (Guitars), Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Christine McVie (Keyboards), Christine McVie (Synthesizers), Christine McVie (Vocals), John McVie (Bass), Mick Fleetwood (Drums), Mick Fleetwood (Percussion), Fleetwood Mac (Produced By), Lindsey Buckingham (Produced By), Mick Fleetwood (Produced By), John McVie (Produced By), Christine McVie (Produced By), Stevie Nicks (Produced By), Richard Dashut (Produced With), Ken Caillat (Produced With)
Appears On
Tusk (1979)
Fleetwood Mac
Tusk (Rhino Remastered Edition) (2004)
Fleetwood Mac
Tusk Special Radio Sampler (0000)
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac: Tusk (0000)
Warner Brothers Publications Inc.
Fleetwood Mac: Deluxe Anthology (0000)
Warner Brothers Publications Inc.
Think About Me/Honey Hi (0000)
Fleetwood Mac

    Lyrics »

Honey, honey, honey
Who could be sweeter than you
Honey, honey, honey
Bitter sweet, but what can I do

Lord, it's good to talk to you
Even sweeter than wine
Don't take the love light away
'Cause I'm far away from home

Daddy, all I'm trying to tell you
Lord, I really love you, love you, love you
Honey, honey, honey hi
Honey, honey, honey hi
Honey, honey, honey hi.

    Fan Interpretation »

Honey Hi is a song that was written for the album Tusk in the late 1970s. Having recently become one of the biggest acts in the world, the excesses of touring and the entire rock and roll lifestyle were really just starting to take their toll on the members of Fleetwood Mac. With Rumours their success was snowballing at the same rate as the bitterness and tension between the band members. Specifically Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks’ relationship had ended along with Christine and John McVie’s failed marriage. Drugs and mainly alcohol had played a huge part in the end of Christine’s marriage to John.

During the recording of Rumours, especially after her divorce from John, the two had almost no communication except through the music. They barely talked and made it a point not to be together outside the studio. Christine didn’t want to have hurt John, she still wanted some kind of friendship and proved that by writing "Don’t Stop" ("I know you don’t believe that it’s true, I never meant any harm to you,"). In songs like Honey Hi and "Songbird", Christine has told the world, and the ones she loved that she never wanted anything but for all of them to be happy.

Honey is an affectionate name often given to one’s boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, or even friend, so the Honey Christine wrote about in this song may have been a friend, it may have been a lover, but it also may have been John.

Honey, honey, honey
Who could be sweeter than you
Many of John’s friends as well as John himself have said that he is a wonderful guy, sweet, sensitive, and caring, when he is not drinking. Christine is acknowledging this when she says ‘who could be sweeter than you’. She is realizing for maybe the first time since their bitter divorce, that she and John can be civil to one another and even be friends.

Honey, honey, honey
Bitter sweet, but what can I do
Of course as all relationships have their ups and downs, so she is also at the same time reminding herself that it doesn’t always work. They aren’t always going to be on each other’s good side, but she knows that is to be expected, it’s natural to fight. She is accepting all his faults because the friendship is worth it to her.

Lord, it's good to talk to you
Even sweeter than wine
She is more than happy to be able to speak to John again, and is now able to really see all of the good things about him.

Don't take the love light away
'Cause I'm far away from home
She doesn’t really want to argue with him. She wants them to have a peaceful relationship and keep the ‘love light’ burning. She would rather just forget how much they hurt each other and move on.

A night light often comforts young children who are afraid of the dark, and in this case, Christine feels like a child being so far away from what she is used to, her marriage with John, but she still wants him to love her. She needs his love and friendship because it comforts her and protects her from darkness. When she and John are getting along, she is at ease, but when they are fighting and the love light goes out, she feels very alone and so she asks him to forget the past as she has and she gives him a chance to stay close to her.

Daddy, all I'm trying to tell you
Lord, I really love you, love you, love you
Honey, honey, honey hi
Honey, honey, honey hi
Honey, honey, honey hi.
In the end she is just telling him that she really does love him and repeats it just to make sure he realizes that. She can’t tell him that enough.

This song is mellow, as are most of the songs that Christine put on Tusk. But unlike her other Tusk songs, this one is light and hopeful instead of dark and sad. The music is relaxing and the song ends just as unassumingly as it began. Honey Hi is as much of a ray of light to the Tusk album as "Don’t Stop" was to Rumours, and in spite of all the dark and intense things that go on in her life, Christine has always tried to remind John how much she really does care about him and always has.

(The interpretations to these lyrics were compiled through discussions on the message boards of the Penguin, The Ledge. It is entirely possible that the artists had something completely different in mind.)

    Tabs »
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    Other Performances »
Running Time 3:48
Sound Clip Listen.
Performers Stevie Nicks (Vocals), Lindsey Buckingham (Guitars), Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Christine McVie (Keyboards), Christine McVie (Synthesizers), Christine McVie (Vocals), John McVie (Bass), Mick Fleetwood (Drums), Mick Fleetwood (Percussion), Fleetwood Mac (Produced By), Lindsey Buckingham (Produced By), Mick Fleetwood (Produced By), John McVie (Produced By), Christine McVie (Produced By), Stevie Nicks (Produced By), Richard Dashut (Produced With), Ken Caillat (Produced With)
Appears On
Tusk (Rhino Remastered Edition) (2004)
Fleetwood Mac

    Comments »

(C) 1979 Careers-BMG Publishing, Inc. (BMI) Copyright Renewed. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured. Used by Permission.

    Reviews »
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    Last Modified »
2009-07-23

    Discography Credits »
Lyrics contributed by Jeff Kenney and Marty Adelson. Interpretation prepared by Scott Boucher, Alexa, and George.