Family Man: Discussion

wondergirl9847 · #1 02-17-2003, 07:17 PM

Hey there, I was listening to Tango last Friday at work and FM came on and I thought I'd start a thread for this song that gets no love. LOL Don't fret, Stevie fans, I'm gonna start one for one of her "no love" songs too. LOL

Family Man is a song that people LOVE or HATE, there's really no in between. Well, I guess some people hate the lyrics, but love the guitar, so maybe there is an in between.

I love this song, every time it comes on, I smile.

The Spanish sounding guitar work is just GREATNESS, and you would THINK that the repetitive chorus would grate on my nerves (most repetitive songs do...Hey Jude, anyone?

), but this one is catchy, to me anyways. I really like the melody too plus Lindsey's voice sounds pretty on the verses.

There is one thing that kinda makes me go

, and that is the message in the song. Alongside the other songs on the album, for some reason, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Anyone else think so? It sounds kinda like it belongs on OOTC to me...because of the content...hey, maybe it WAS one of his OOTC demos, and he put it on Tango.

Okee, anyone else out there love Family Man? I know there are some who HATE it, but I wanna hear from people who LOVE it, like me!! SHOW SOME LOVE FOR FAMILY MAN!!

chiliD · #2 02-17-2003, 07:31 PM

I don't necessarily LOVE it, but I LIKE it.

Lindsey was quoted at the time that "Family Man" & "Big Love" in particular were already slated for his next solo album (which turned out to be OotC).

In fact, most of his Tango songs have pseudo-"replacement" songs ON OotC:

Family Man/You & I, Part 2----Soul Drifter
Big Love---Doing What I Can
Caroline/Tango In The Night (first half)---This Is The Time

DownOnRodeo · #3 02-17-2003, 07:45 PM

Put me in the 'in between' category!

I certainly don't dislike it, but it's not among my very favourite Lindset tunes. I still catch the song going through my head sometimes though - very catchy! And although, like you say, the message sticks out on Tango, I really dig it!

On the same topic, has anybody seen this at Mick's BS? (oops - I mean.. BBS

)

Quote:

Hurry now to join the Official Family Man Fan Club! For a simple $99.95 club administration fee plus postage and handling, you will/may recieve a sheet of real paper with the lyrics to Family Man printed on! (The advanced nature of this technology explains the admin surcharges!)
The first 5 lucky fans to become members will also be sent one of Mick's patented 'Family Man' badges, featuring a picture of Mick and his family! ORDER TODAY, and for a small $10,099.95 bonus fee, Mick will fly you to a Mauii hotel, where he will personally deliver your Badge and Lyric Sheet to your hotel room!!! (Note: may not necessarily be Mick Fleetwood depending on availability!)

wondergirl9847 · #4 02-17-2003, 08:01 PM

OMG...that is HILARIOUS!! It may not be Mick, it may be a close facsimile, perhaps "Mick" from one of those Fleetwood Mac cover bands!!

Yeah, I dig the message too..and now..he IS a family man!!

sulamith · #5 02-17-2003, 11:24 PM

I guess I am typical when it comes to this song because I love the luscious guitar, hate the cheesy vocal.

It just sounds kooky and funny to me, a la Popeye....
I yam what I yam, yam what I yam

AND that thing in there that is obvious to me but not to too many other folks here, (at least nobody will admit it) hear
he says:
muther (muther) f*@ker (f*@ker)

Yeah, yeah, I know you guys will say you don't hear it, and that it's supposed to be:
mother (mother) father (father)

but everytime I hear it I just get tickled and can't take it seriously. I actually think Linds was jerking someone's chain with that song and was just being a wise ass anyway. He probably wanted to see what he could get past the censors or something, and that is priceless and funny to me!

Hey, I would dearly love to have it as an instrumental track!

-Sharon

sodascouts · #6 02-17-2003, 11:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sulamith
AND that thing in there that is obvious to me but not to too many other folks here, (at least nobody will admit it) hear
he says:
muther (muther) f*@ker (f*@ker)

-Sharon

Now THAT would be a messed up family.

Mac Fan · #7 02-18-2003, 02:40 AM

I absolutely hated this song the first time I heard it(I think it's the only Lindsey song I've actually hated)but now I love it.

Les · #8 02-18-2003, 11:21 AM

Yup, I like it. I understand why others don't, but the chorus just hasn't ever bothered me.

The Spanish guitar is what makes it special to me. But there is something about the very simple verses that has just always appealed to me:

Walk down this road
When the road gets rough.....

Walk down this road
In the cool of the night
Don't know what's wrong
But I do know what's right

I am what I am
A family man

He's not feeling good about life and he knows that if he can just get to the point where he's walking up his mom and dad's driveway that everything will feel better. It's sort of innocent, very basic, but appealing in its simplicity.

CarneVaca · #9 02-18-2003, 11:38 AM

Sharon, you're crazy.

He's not saying that. For all the Abba fans out there, though, here's a question: Did you ever hear this: "F**king in the moonlight, love making in the dawn, summer night city." Is it just me, or do they really sing that? I haven't heard the song in years, but Sharon's remark just reminded me of that.

As for Family Man, this is one of those songs for which I bet Lindsey had this great melody and arrangement, but no lyrics. So he added the lyrics later, and whatever he was feeling at the time is what the song became. I believe Lesley's assessment is dead on.

I am not particularly fond of the words, for they lack the emotional connection that he infused in the lyrics for Save Me a Place or Can't Go Back. But the song as a whole is pretty damn good.

Cristian · #10 02-18-2003, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mac Fan
I absolutely hated this song the first time I heard it

...and I still hate it, it's my least favorite Fleetwood Mac song of any incarnation, ever (yes, I even prefer the Dave Walker stuff on Penguin). The lyrics here are so bad that they kind of 'erase' all the good things that this song could have. In my book, that is. I understand that the spanish guitar work might be enough for some of you hardcore Lindsey fans to like it... But not me, sorry. I much rather hear Lindsey singing good lyrics that make sense, like on "Save Me A Place", "Book Of Love" or in this same album... "Tango In The Night" and "Big Love".

Song of the moment - As Long As You Follow

shackin'up · #11 02-18-2003, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cristian
...and I still hate it, ... (yes, I even prefer the Dave Walker stuff on Penguin). The lyrics here are so bad that they kind of 'erase' all the good things that this song could have.

Well, here's the ultimate hatred!

Preferring DW-stuff on penguin. I hate family man too, because of the dumb-ass lyrics, but that penguinstuff.....that beats everything

DownOnRodeo · #12 02-18-2003, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cristian
...and I still hate it, it's my least favorite Fleetwood Mac song of any incarnation, ever (yes, I even prefer the Dave Walker stuff on Penguin). The lyrics here are so bad that they kind of 'erase' all the good things that this song could have. In my book, that is. I understand that the spanish guitar work might be enough for some of you hardcore Lindsey fans to like it... But not me, sorry. I much rather hear Lindsey singing good lyrics that make sense, like on "Save Me A Place", "Book Of Love" or in this same album... "Tango In The Night" and "Big Love".
[/i]

I'm not trying to be argumentative - I just don't know what you mean. Do you mean the lyrics actually don't make sense, or they're just corny? Because they definitely make perfect - very clear - sense, lol.

sulamith · #13 02-18-2003, 07:46 PM

Hee HEEE!!! Whee!

I told you guys, he was just being a wisenheimer!
He sat in his control room laughing his butt off because he slipped the old MF-words onto a record and it went right over the collective heads of all the Warner suits!

WHOOSH!!!

Yeah, Carne's right. I'm just crazy!

I have no idea what this ABBA song of which Carne speaks is about.
I am not an ABBA fan......OWWWWWWW! Ok, who threw that?
Right back at ya, buddy!

-Sharon

Cristian · #14 02-18-2003, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DownOnRodeo
Do you mean the lyrics actually don't make sense, or they're just corny? Because they definitely make perfect - very clear - sense, lol.

Yeah... I guess I expressed myself wrong, so I stand corrected. They are just corny to me.

Oh yes, the Penguin stuff... That was a bit extremist, but I just wanted to express my feelings in a way that they could be understood. I absolutely hate "Family Man"... Just a matter of tastes, I suppose.

Song of the moment - As Long As You Follow

wondergirl9847 · #15 02-18-2003, 08:26 PM

LMAO!! Chilid hates When You Say (and Come), Cristian hates Family Man, I hate WISYA and Sugar Daddy...it's all good!

Like Les, I like Lindsey's simple lyrics...it contrasts Stevie's sometimes

- inducing lyrics. LOL Hey...it works!!

I mean, all poetry doesn't have to be:

"Essential oils are wrung
the attar from the rose
Be not expressed by suns alone,
it is the gift of screws. "