Go Insane (song)

"Go Insane"
US picture sleeve
Single by Lindsey Buckingham
from the album Go Insane
B-side"Play in the Rain"
ReleasedJuly 1984
Genre
Length3:08
Label
SongwriterLindsey Buckingham
Producers
  • Lindsey Buckingham
  • Gordon Fordyce
Lindsey Buckingham singles chronology
"Holiday Road"
(1983)		 "Go Insane"
(1984)		 "Slow Dancing"
(1984)
Audio sample
"Go Insane"
  • file
  • help

"Go Insane" is a song recorded by American musician Lindsey Buckingham for his second solo album of the same name. Released as the album's lead single in July 1984, it became Buckingham's second top-40 hit in the United States, following "Trouble", three years earlier. "Go Insane" remains his most recent U.S. solo hit, peaking at No. 23 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In the UK, the single was released in August on Mercury Records and received airplay from 20 playlists across the country by early September.[3][4]

In 1985, "Go Insane" received four nominations at the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards: Most Experimental Video, Best Special Effects in a Video, Best Editing in a Video, and Best Cinematography in a Video, although it did not win any of these categories.[5]

Lyrics

When asked about the lyrics of "Go Insane", Buckingham explained that the song was about being on the verge of insanity rather than a perpetual state of insanity, saying that "we all go insane from time to time. There are times when we tend to go out a little bit and you're walking on that edge."[6] Buckingham said that the "I lost my power in this world" lyric refers to the "power of discipline" and "the power to progress".[7]

In later years, Buckingham stated that the song, "Go Insane", was actually written about his post-break up relationship with former lover, Stevie Nicks.

"We were disintegrating as couples, by virtue of that, we were suffering as people. So in order to get work done, I had to go through this elaborate exercise in denial – leaving whole areas of baggage on the other side of the room, compartmentalize feelings... no time to get closure, to work things out... working in a very highly charged and ambivalent environment. So the go insane thing – would just be whenever I let my guard down and got back to all the things I hadn’t dealt with, it was almost like going insane – like I always do. Took a long, long time, working in an artificial environment on a personal level. So many things not worked through for a long, long time."[8]

Critical reception

Billboard described the song as "aggressive, electronic dance-rock" and predicted that the song would "reestablish [Buckingham's] prominence as a soloist."[2] Chris Morris of Musician magazine thought that the title track possessed "nervous undercurrents".[9] The Washington Post commented that the song's "punchy mid-tempo rhythm, catchy guitar riff, melody hook and the chorus harmonies all make this reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac, even if there are some odd effects in the background and an unsettling theme in the lyrics."[10] AllMusic likened "Go Insane" to Buckingham's work with Fleetwood Mac and highlighted the song's "massed choral sounds."[11]

Live versions

During live performances, Buckingham has performed acoustic fingerstyle solo renditions of "Go Insane" on a nylon-string guitar. He first performed the song in this style on his 1992–1993 tour promoting the Out of the Cradle album and also on Fleetwood Mac's 1997 tour supporting The Dance, where it also appeared on the DVD edition of the album.[12][13]

During the 2008 Gift of Screws tour, as well as Fleetwood Mac's 2009 Unleashed Tour, he played the full-band arrangement of the song.[14][15] He returned to performing the solo acoustic version on his 2011 Seeds We Sow tour.

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

References

  1. ↑ Molanphy, Chris (September 16, 2024). "What's 1984 Got to Do with It Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 "Singles Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. July 21, 1984. p. 57. Retrieved September 6, 2025 – via World Radio History.
  3. ↑ "New Singles" (PDF). Music Week. August 18, 1984. p. 20 – via World Radio History.
  4. ↑ "Regional Airplay Action" (PDF). Music Week. September 1, 1984. p. 11 – via World Radio History.
  5. ↑ "1985 MTV Awards". MTV. Archived from the original on June 9, 2000. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  6. ↑ Wasahla, Steve (May 1985). "Lindsey Buckingham". Song Hits. Archived from the original on December 30, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2023 – via The Blue Letter Archives.
  7. ↑ Graham, Sam. "Lindsey Buckingham: Personal Brinksmanship and State-of-the-Art Subconscious". Musician. pp. 17, 21, 28. Archived from the original (The World Radio History reference is missing page 21, but the archived url includes the missing text.) on October 16, 2005. Retrieved September 6, 2025.
  8. ↑ April 16, 2008 Rockline Radio interview
  9. ↑ Morris, Chris. "Lindsey Buckingham - Go Insane (Elektra)" (PDF). Musician. p. 101 – via World Radio History.
  10. ↑ Himes, Geoffrey (September 16, 1984). "Lindsey Buckingham's Unusual Mix". Washington Post. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  11. ↑ Ruhlmann, William. "Lindsey Buckingham - Go Insane Album Review". AllMusic. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  12. ↑ Kening, Dan (March 19, 1993). "Heading on down the road". Chicago Tribune. p. 20. Retrieved July 24, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Schruers, Fred (1997-10-30). "Fleetwood Mac: Back on the Chain Gang". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  14. ↑ O'Hare, Kevin (October 17, 2008). "Talented guitarist rocks the Calvin". The Republican. p. E2. Retrieved July 24, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ Kot, Greg (March 7, 2009). "Buckingham keeps Mac alive". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
  16. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  17. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. October 27, 1984. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
  18. ↑ "RPM100 Singles" (PDF). RPM. Vol. 41, no. 7. Toronto, Ontario. October 20, 1984. p. 6. Retrieved July 18, 2026 – via WorldRadioHistory.com.
  19. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 122.
  20. ↑ "Lindsey Buckingham Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, September 29, 1984". Archived from the original on October 1, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
  22. ↑ "The Back Page – National Airplay: September 7, 1984 – AOR/Hot Tracks". Radio & Records. No. 550. Los Angeles, CA: Harte-Hanks Communications. September 7, 1984. p. 88. ISSN 0277-4860.
  23. ↑ "The Back Page – National Airplay: September 28, 1984 – Contemporary Hit Radio". Radio & Records. No. 553. Los Angeles, CA: Harte-Hanks Communications. September 28, 1984. p. 82. ISSN 0277-4860.
  24. ↑ "AOR/Hot Tracks – Top 84 of '84". Radio & Records. No. 564. Los Angeles, CA: Harte-Hanks Communications. December 14, 1984. p. 78. ISSN 0277-4860.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.