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The Penguin Discography: Never Going Back Again




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    Song Title »
Never Going Back Again
    Authors »
Lindsey Buckingham

    Year Written »
1976

    Lyrics »

She broke down and let me in
Made me see where I've been

Been down one time
Been down two times
I'm never going back again

You don't know what it means to win
Come down and see me again

Been down one time
Been down two times
I'm never going back again

    Fan Interpretation »

From the depths of the pain, heartbreak, and utter lunacy of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours comes a song that seems separated from the heartbreak and pain that laces the other songs' cores. The song "Never Going Back Again" is, at best, a statement of optimism, hope, and happiness. The song, and its simple acoustic guitar, sounds beautiful and uplifting, while the lyrics are slightly darker.

Lindsey has stated that this song was written about a woman he became involved with after his devastating breakup with Stevie Nicks, whom he was in a relationship with for almost seven years. The woman made Lindsey see, at least temporarily, that life after his breakup with Stevie could be just as fulfilling and sweet. She put "the wind back in his sail."

She broke down and let me in
Made me see where I've been
This line can be interpreted as Lindsey saying that the woman he met after Stevie, his new girlfriend, let him into her life and helped him see where his life and relationship to Stevie was. His new girlfriend allowed him and their relationship to become intimate--something maybe he felt that he couldn't experience after Stevie.

Been down one time
Been down two times
I'm never going back again.
Lindsey's making a positive statement here. His new girlfriend has truly lifted his spirits and shown him that there is life after his relationship with Stevie and that itıs possible for him to be happy without her. Lindsey knows that he's been unhappy and "down" before, knows that he'll be unhappy again, and yet is telling Stevie and himself that he's never going back to the kind of heartache he experienced at the end of their relationship. By doing this he's expressing optimism in himself and his choices.

You donıt know what it means to win
Come down and see me again
"Winning" is a common theme in many of both Lindsey's and Stevie's songs. The theme has been used in numerous songs of Stevie's, like "Long Distance Winner" from Buckingham Nicks amongst others. Also, "winners and losers" play a prominent theme in another very moving song that Lindsey wrote, "Go Insane." It seems to be very important to both of them to truly "win, " to be happy in their lives, loves, and music. Here, Lindsey feels that he is ahead, winning. He's successful musically, as well as romantically. He's viewing life as a competition, maybe, and feeling glad that he is winning.

Been down one time
Been down two times
I'm never going back again
Lindsey is reinforcing his belief that after seeing how happy he can be, he is determined never to revisit the pain heıd been experiencing.

There will always be amounts of happiness and unhappiness in life. You can deal with your feelings or you can shove them into a corner and ignore them completely. As well, you can overcome them and see the light at the end of the tunnel. You can realize that with every bit of happiness, unhappiness may follow, and with every bit of unhappiness comes just a little bit of happiness. "Never Going Back Again" was Lindsey's way of semi-healing the pain he felt over the break-up of his relationship with Stevie and his sudden success, as well as his way of realizing that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Lindsey is stating in this song that even though he has experienced both happiness and unhappiness in life and will continue to do so, he feels positive and truly knows "what it means to win."

(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 »
*Easy strum

Tuning = DADGBe (drop D tuning)
capo on fourth fret

I figured out the song in different riffs and then put them all together.
The whole song consists of two basic ones, the verse and chorus riffs.

Verse riff:
e|-----------|-----5-----5-----|-----------|-----5-----5---|
B|---3---2/3-|-------3-----3---|---3/2---5-|-3-----3-----3-|
G|-----------|---2-----2-----2-|-----------|---2-----2-----|
D|---4---2/4-|-----4-------4---|---4/2---5-|-----4-------4-|
A|-----0-----|---------0-------|-------0---|---------0-----|
D|-0---------|-0---------------|-0---------|-0-------------|

e|-2-----2-----2---|---2-----2-----2-|
B|---5-----5-----5-|-----5-----5-----|
G|-----------2-----|-------2---------|
D|-----5-------5---|-----5-------5---|
A|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|
D|-----------------|-----------------|

e|-------------|-----5---------|
B|-3-----5/7-5-|-3-----------3-|
G|---2---------|---------2-----|
D|-----4-5/7-5-|---4-------4---|
A|--------/0---|-------0-------|
D|-0-----------|-0-------------|

Chorus riff:
e|--------9-----|-10------10-------10-|
B|---10---------|----10------10-------|
G|--------------|-------7------7------|
D|---7--------7-|-------7--------7----|
A|------0---7---|------------0-----7--|
D|-0------------|-0-------------------|

e|---10-9-------|-10------10------10----|
B|--------8-----|----10------10------10-|
G|------------7-|-------7-------7-------|
D|---7------7---|-------7---------7-----|
A|------0-------|------------0----------|
D|-0------------|-0---------------------|

e|---10---9-----|-10------10------10-|
B|--------------|----10------10------|
G|------------7-|-------7-------7----|
D|---7------7---|-------7---------7--|
A|------0-------|------------0-------|
D|-0------------|-0------------------|

e|-------------|-------5---------|
B|---3---2-----|-3-----------2/3-|
G|-----------2-|---2-------2-----|
D|---4-----2---|-----4-------2/4-|
A|-2-----------|-2-------0-------|
D|-----4-------|-----------------|

Lyrics:
VERSE 1
She broke down and let me in
Made me see where I've been

CHORUS
Been down one time
Been down two times
I'm never going back again

VERSE 2
You don't know what it means to win
Come down and see me again

CHORUS again

    Performances »
Performance #1:
Running Time 2:02
Sound Clip Listen.
Performers Lindsey Buckingham (Guitars), Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Stevie Nicks (Vocals), Christine McVie (Vocals), Richard Dashut (Produced With), Ken Caillat (Produced With), Fleetwood Mac (Produced By), Stevie Nicks (Produced By), Lindsey Buckingham (Produced By), Christine McVie (Produced By), John McVie (Produced By), Mick Fleetwood (Produced By)
Appears On
Rumours (1977)
Fleetwood Mac
25 Years: The Chain (1992)
Fleetwood Mac
The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac (2002)
Fleetwood Mac
Performance #2:
Date Performance 1980-08-28
Running Time 4:13
Sound Clip Listen.
Performers Lindsey Buckingham (Guitar), Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Mick Fleetwood (Drums), John McVie (Bass), Christine McVie (Keyboards), Christine McVie (Vocals), Stevie Nicks (Vocals), Jeffery Sova (Additional Live Keyboards), Tony Todaro (Additional Live Percussion)
CommentsRecorded in Tucson
Appears On
Fleetwood Mac Live (1980)
Fleetwood Mac
Performance #3:
Date Performance 1977-08-25
Performers Lindsey Buckingham (Guitar), Mick Fleetwood (Drums), John McVie (Bass)
CommentsRecorded at the Aladdin Theatre Performing Arts, Las Vegas, Nevada
Appears On
Sin City (0000)
Fleetwood Mac
Performance #4:
Performers Curt Mitchell (Guitar)
Appears On
Guitar Method In The Style Of Fleetwood Mac; Learn The Guitar Style Of Lindsey Buckingham (0000)
Curt Mitchell
Performance #5:
Running Time 2:02
Sound Clip Listen.
Performers Lindsey Buckingham (Guitars), Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Stevie Nicks (Vocals), Christine McVie (Vocals), Richard Dashut (Produced With), Ken Caillat (Produced With), Fleetwood Mac (Produced By), Stevie Nicks (Produced By), Lindsey Buckingham (Produced By), Christine McVie (Produced By), John McVie (Produced By), Mick Fleetwood (Produced By)
Appears On
Best Selection (0000)
Fleetwood Mac
Performance #6:
Running Time 3:45
Performers Kyle Cook (Guitar), Kyle Cook (Vocoder), Rob Thomas (Vocals), Adam Gaynor (Guitar), Adam Gaynor (Vocoder), Paul Doucette (Drums), Brian Yale (Bass)
Commentsby Matchbox Twenty
Appears On
Legacy: A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (1998)
Various Artists
Performance #7:
Running Time 2:06
Performers Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Stevie Nicks (Vocals), Christine McVie (Vocals), Lindsey Buckingham (Guitar), Christine McVie (Keyboards), John McVie (Bass), Mick Fleetwood (Drums)
Appears On
Classic Albums: Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (1998)
Fleetwood Mac
Performance #8:
Running Time 2:02
Sound Clip Listen.
Performers Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Lindsey Buckingham (Acoustic Guitar (2 Parts)), Lindsey Buckingham (Electric Guitar), Mick Fleetwood (Snare)
Appears On
Rumours (DVD Audio) (2001)
Fleetwood Mac
Performance #9:
Running Time 2:02
Sound Clip Listen.
Performers Lindsey Buckingham (Guitars), Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Stevie Nicks (Vocals), Christine McVie (Vocals), Richard Dashut (Produced With), Ken Caillat (Produced With), Fleetwood Mac (Produced By), Stevie Nicks (Produced By), Lindsey Buckingham (Produced By), Christine McVie (Produced By), John McVie (Produced By), Mick Fleetwood (Produced By)
Appears On
Rumours (Rhino Remastered Edition) (2004)
Fleetwood Mac
Performance #10:
Date Performance 1993-02-17
Running Time 2:42
Performers Lindsey Buckingham (Vocal), Lindsey Buckingham (Guitar), Theo Mondle (Engineered (Using 'M' Sound) By)
Commentsby Lindsey Buckingham (appears courtesy of Reprise Records)
Appears On
Rare On Air: Live Performances, Vol. 1 (1994)
Various Artists
Performance #11:
Running Time 2:59
Performers Lindsey Buckingham (Guitar), Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Mick Fleetwood (Drums), John McVie (Bass), Stevie Nicks (Vocals), Jana Anderson (Background Vocals), Sharon Celani (Background Vocals), Neale Heywood (Guitar), Taku(ya) Hirano (Percussion), Steve Rinkoff/Rinkov (Drums), Carlos Rios (Guitar), Brett Tuggle (Keyboards), Mike Dean (Keyboard), Ed Cherney/Chernay (Music Mixed By)
Appears On
Live In Boston (2004)
Fleetwood Mac
Performance #12:
Running Time 2:02
Sound Clip Listen.
Performers Lindsey Buckingham (Guitars), Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Stevie Nicks (Vocals), Christine McVie (Vocals), Richard Dashut (Produced With), Ken Caillat (Produced With), Fleetwood Mac (Produced By), Stevie Nicks (Produced By), Lindsey Buckingham (Produced By), Christine McVie (Produced By), John McVie (Produced By), Mick Fleetwood (Produced By)
Appears On
Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (0000)
Warner Brothers Publications Inc.
Fleetwood Mac: Deluxe Anthology (0000)
Warner Brothers Publications Inc.
Fleetwood Mac: Anthology Of Classics (1989)
Warner Brothers Publications Inc.
Fleetwood Mac: Guitar Anthology Series (1998)
Warner Brothers Publications Inc.
The New Best Of Fleetwood Mac For Guitar (1998)
Warner Brothers Publications Inc.
Dreams/Never Going Back Again (0000)
Fleetwood Mac
Don't Stop/Never Going Back Again (0000)
Fleetwood Mac
You Make Loving Fun/Never Going Back Again (0000)
Fleetwood Mac
Performance #13:
Performers Sharon Shannon (Fiddle), Sharon Shannon (Accordion), Sharon Shannon (Whistle (Instrument))
CommentsPart 2 of the "Kids Medley: Fead An Fhiolair (Cry Of The Eagle)/Never Going Back Again" track. Total running time of track is 3:05
Appears On
Each Little Thing (1997)
Sharon Shannon
Performance #14:
Running Time 3:09
Performers Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Lindsey Buckingham (Guitar), Stevie Nicks (Vocals)
Comments(Duet With Stevie Nicks)
Appears On
Soundstage Presents Lindsey Buckingham With Special Guest Stevie Nicks (2005)
Lindsey Buckingham

    Comments »

(C) Copyright 1977 Published and controlled by Gentoo Music, Inc. (BMI) and (C) 1978 Now Sounds Music ASCAP/Fleetwood Mac Music - BMI. All rights reserved/Copyright Renewed. International Copyright Secured. Used by permission. Administered by Screen Gems-EMI Music Inc. for U.S. and Canada.

    Reviews »
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    Last Modified »
2008-11-11

    Discography Credits »
Lyrics contributed by Jeff Kenney and Marty Adelson. Interpretation prepared by Hayley, Lauren, Karen, Calamity, Ocean, Janet, Marlene, Drew, Miss Scarlett, Joanne, StephanieNicks9. Tabs prepared by Josh Shank.