Lindsey Buckingham’s latest interview with Classic Rock confirmed that he wrote the song ‘On the Wrong Side’ after being inspired by his experiences with his former band Fleetwood Mac.
Buckingham gained fame and success after joining Fleetwood Mac with his then-partner Stevie Nicks in 1975. He stuck with the band until 1987 and quit to establish a solo career. During his first venture with Fleetwood, the guitarist contributed to the band’s success and released the multi-platinum album ‘Rumours,’ which sold 40 million copies worldwide.
He couldn’t stay away from the band for more than ten years. In 1997, he returned to Fleetwood Mac and continued to perform with them. However, around 2018, he had a falling out with the band members over the song choices for their upcoming tour. He was in favor of performing their lesser-known songs but, the rest of the members disagreed. His relationship with Stevie Nicks had ended years before, but there was also tension between the two.
Hence, he was fired from the band in 2018 and replaced Mike Campbell and Neil Finn. He continued making music as a solo artist and released the song ‘On the Wrong Side’ in July 2021, depicting his experience in Fleetwood Mac. The song describes experiencing ups and downs while being in a band and how he struggled to rise above their ‘great machinery.’ However, Lindsey noted that he wrote it when he was still in the band, implying that music has always been his outlet.
Here is what he said about the song:
“It’s sort of a comment on the challenges of being in a band where the machinery is so great that you have to keep fighting to rise above it. But weirdly, it was written before I departed from Fleetwood Mac. That’s not the only song that has that prescient thing.
There are songs about my relationship with my wife too. There was perhaps kind of a subconscious sense that crept into the writing of a lot of these songs. Likes postcards to my future self.”
You can listen to the song below.
