"Can't Go Back" is a song by British-American rock group

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

. It was written and performed by guitarist

Lindsey Buckingham Lindsey Adams Buckingham (born October 3, 1949) is an American musician, record producer, and the lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with ...

for the 1982 album ''

Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', mean ...

'', the fourth issued by the band with Buckingham as main producer. An instrumental demo of "Can't Go Back" appears on the 2016 deluxe edition of ''Mirage'' under the working title "Suma's Walk". In the UK, the track was released as the follow-up to the Top 10 hit "

Oh Diane "Oh Diane" is a song by British-American rock group Fleetwood Mac. It was written by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and Richard Dashut for the 1982 album ''Mirage'', the fourth album by the band with Lindsey Buckingham. Buckingham wrote the song wh ...

" and became the fourth single to be released from the ''Mirage'' album in April 1983. It was released on 7" and 12", with the 12" format including "

Tusk Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canine tooth, canine teeth, as with Narwhal, narwhals, chevrotains, musk deer, water deer, muntjac, pigs, ...

" and " Over & Over" from the 1979 album ''

'', and "

Rhiannon Rhiannon () is a protagonist (main character) of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, Mabinogi, in its First and Third Branches. She originates only in these prose tales, with just a couple of references in 14thC mediaeval Welsh poetry, and none ...

" from 1975 album ''

''. The song peaked at number 83 on the UK Singles Chart. Along with " Eyes of the World", "Can't Go Back" was one of the two songs that Buckingham brought into the recording studio in Hérouville, France for the ''Mirage'' sessions. The song initially began as an instrumental that was built around few interweaving guitar parts and a basic rhythm track. It was later adorned with a more extensive rhythm track from

Mick Fleetwood Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and actor. He is the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of the group's bassist John Mc ...

, who multitracked drum fills and auxiliary percussion. In an interview with ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

'' magazine,

Christine McVie Christine Anne McVie (; Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022) was an English musician. She was the keyboardist and one of the vocalists and songwriters of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. McVie was a member of several bands, notably Chic ...

expressed her approval of the song and identified the salience of the song's lyrics in relation to their attempt at recreating the success of the band's '' Rumours'' album. Despite being released as a single, "Can't Go Back" has yet to be included on any retrospective of Fleetwood Mac material; thus it can only be found on its parent album ''Mirage''.

Track listings

UK 7" Single (W 9848) # "Can't Go Back" – 2:42 # "That's Alright" - 3:09 UK 12" Single (W 9848 T) # "Can't Go Back" – 2:42 # "

" – 4:13 # "

" – 3:38 # " Over & Over" – 4:35

Personnel

– double tracked drums, castanets, sleigh bells, maracas *

John McVie John Graham McVie (; born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of drummer ...

– bass guitar *

– keyboards *

– guitars, vocals, keyboards

Chart performance

References

*''The Great Rock Discography'', 6th Edition, Martin C. Strong. .

External links

The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac , Fleetwood Mac
Official Site. 1983 singles 1982 songs Fleetwood Mac songs Song recordings produced by Ken Caillat Song recordings produced by Richard Dashut Songs written by Lindsey Buckingham Warner Records singles {{1980s-rock-song-stub