Tusk!
 

Hello everybody.
Quino's the name, and I'm new to this forum. I have a simple question for you: In the song "Tusk", why do they sing "tusk"? Does it have a special meaning (other than the tusks of an animal)?

Thanks in advance for your help.
/Q.

PS. I now realize that this forum isn't only for Fleetwood Mac fans (am I right?). So, to clearify, I'm adressing the song "Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac, on the album "Tusk". (A lot of tusks this...)

Hello.

"tusk" apparently means "penis."

??? How does that make sense for the song?

Lindsey had an obsession with either

a) His penis

or

b) Mick Fleetwood's penis

and with that information the song makes perfect sense...

"Tusk" was what the boys in the band called "penis" as some kind of private slang. I always hear the song as being about how his insecurities, jealousies, and paranoia impact his sexual performance. The celebratory tone of the song insists on the primacy of the male organ -- his erection (or lack thereof) is worthy of some earthshaking fanfare!

I guess everyone has already explained this to you. It's certainly a bizarre thing to hear about the song, but, the song as far as I know has never been fully explained. I think Mick and Lindsey both admitted "Tusk" meant boner or penis...but I think that's as far as they went with it. When I hear TUSK, I certainly don't think of that. It makes me think "savage rock chant".

If you think about it, it ranks up there with Van Halen naming an album For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge as being the most insidiously filthy title ever. I could only imagine if they named the album D*** or C*** or Sgt. P**ker, how many copies the album would have sold.

ZZ Tops Pearl Necklace is a good one too.

don't forget the 1938 Bogart & Edward G. Robinson film "The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse."

Actually Tusk is just another sex related song from Fleetwood Mac...I think this was dealt with in another thread before? We've had Rattlesnake Shake of course, Black Magic Woman, Lemon Squeezer and a host of other songs and covers...

and how can we forget about Squeezebox by the Who

Stevie didn't like to name the album Tusk. She said she would leave the band but Mick didn't care and they named the album Tusk.

Mick had a dream about a band marching in a village. That's how it came the idea of the trojan band. No idea how they added the TUSK word with the initial concept of the marching band. Yes that song has never been fully explained

I think technically it's Mick's penis.

I heard at some point, and I can't even remember where, that the song Tusk was Lindsey's reaction to finding out about the affair between Stevie and Mick ant the secretive nature of it. For me, it certainly puts the verses in context.

Mick said in some long ago interview that he was at a hotel in France(I think,or somewhere overseas) with a major hangover and a marching band was moving through the town all throughout the day and he couldn't sleep because of them and that is where he got the idea of a marching band.Boy that was one loooong sentence, huh?

Thanks for all the great answers! 'Never knew there was so much knowledge around this topic...

Cheers!
Q.