A. V. Club Discusses Tusk, The Song

[michelej1]

Fleetwood Mac’s strangely savage “Tusk” was the band’s weirdest hit

by Todd VanDerWerff January 30, 2013
http://www.avclub.com/articles/fleet...club_rss_daily

In Hear This, A.V. Club writers sing the praises of songs they know well—some inspired by a weekly theme and some not, but always songs worth hearing.

For most of Fleetwood Mac’s life, the band has been a hits machine, and it used that reputation to propel a singularly weird song—one vastly different from its usual output—into the Billboard top 10 in 1979. “Tusk,” which is featured prominently and often in the première of FX’s The Americans tonight, is a work of strange savagery, overlaid with jungle sounds and a thudding, endlessly repetitive drum riff that drives everything that happens in the song. The lyrics are simple enough to be a Dr. Seuss exploration of a relationship that’s crumbling, Lindsey Buckingham softly crooning “Why don’t you ask him if he going to stay? / Why don’t you ask him if he’s going away?” over the horrors building up beneath him.

It all explodes in the chorus, when Buckingham and backing vocalists Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie hiss “Don’t say that you love me!” to the unseen addressee, while the USC Trojan Marching Band’s urgent backing music heads off in another direction entirely. It’s a song at odds with itself, the various voices all tugging at the tune in different directions until everything unites when the vocalists scream the song’s title, an enigmatic moment that means… what, exactly? This relationship was doomed to begin with? These people are going to kill each other eventually? All love has violence inside of it somewhere? That “Tusk” is able to suggest all three of these things—and also have elements of wounded tenderness inside of it—makes it one of Fleetwood Mac’s very best, yet also easily its strangest song to hit on the charts.

[michelej1]

The Americans: This Is What Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Tusk’ Sounds Like Without the Horns by Gilbert Cruz [click to see Tusk video moments]

http://www.vulture.com/2013/01/ameri...the-horns.html

If you happen to follow TV critics and insiders on social media, you might have observed many of them writing some variation of "TUSK!" or "OMG TUSK!" over the past week. And following the premiere of The Americans on FX last night, you now know why — the opening minutes of the show were set to the tension-ratcheting drums and horns of the 1979 Fleetwood Mac song. And it's in your head now. So why try to fight it?

The original employed the orchestration of the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band. This is what they look like performing it:

Of course, the band couldn't bring an entire marching band on tour with them, so instead, they had band member Christine McVie play the horns' part on the accordion:

Then again, in 1997, when they recorded their live album The Dance, Fleetwood Mac said, "Why the hell not?" and brought the Trojans back for the song:

[michelej1]

Gigwise Friday 31st July 2015 by Gaby Whitehill and Andrew Trendell

http://www.gigwise.com/photos/101951...y-foo-fighters

10 INNOCENT SONGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW WERE ABOUT SEX
Happy National Orgasm Day

Fleetwood Mac, 'Tusk': With lyrics such as Fleetwood Mac, 'Tusk': With lyrics such as "Why don't you tell me what's going on?/Why don't you tell me who's on the phone?" this epic Fleetwood Mac tune, on the face of it, seems to be jealousy in a relationship from a male standpoint. But there's actually, reportedly, more to it - diehard Fleetwood fans have noted that the band used to use the word "tusk" as slang for "penis" whilst on tour at the time. So essentially, the track is dedicated to Mick Fleetwood's manhood. Pure speculation perhap