Tuesday Tune Two-Fer: Point/Counter-point: Preserving the Mystery

I didn’t get into Fleetwood Mac until I was in a freshman in college and their Greatest Hits album had just been released. Which means that I’m familiar with the most well-known songs, but can still occasionally be caught by surprise by something.

Most recently: I heard “I Don’t Want to Know,” which was written by Stevie Nicks, and I thought Wow, this is such a good song, I should try to listen to more Fleetwood Mac albums because there are probably lots more undiscovered gems hiding out there, and then I saw that it’s hidden away on Rumors, one of the best-selling albums of all time.¹I think it was also included on a mix tape a friend made for me, but I’m not certain because I always conflate it with “Second Hand News.”

Regardless, it seems like a surprisingly forward-thinking sentiment of setting boundaries and making a clean break, ideas that didn’t seem to have a priority in public consciousness until the 80s and 90s. And if there are any two people who understood the importance of boundaries and clean breaks, it’s Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, so I’m glad they got to sing this song together so many times over so many years.

At the opposite extreme of wanting to know is the appropriately-named Information Society, who demanded to be told “What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy).” Rewatching that video now, as the band cavorts on a bright set with oversized cardboard musical instruments that clearly had no part in the production of this song, I’m wondering if I’ve been misreading it the whole time. Maybe it wasn’t about relationships at all, but just asking for honest opinions about their hair and earrings?

I’m also not sure how the concepts of “Pure Energy,” “Destruction,” or guns and dollar signs fit into the message. I’m assuming that the repeated hammer and skull are like the opening monologue of Gone Girl²I feel a need to stress that being memorable and being good aren’t the same thing, and this isn’t an endorsement for Gone Girl, which I strongly disliked. and a metaphor for trying to get into someone else’s head. It’s almost enough to make me want to know what they were thinking.

• 1
  I think it was also included on a mix tape a friend made for me, but I’m not certain because I always conflate it with “Second Hand News.”
• 2
  I feel a need to stress that being memorable and being good aren’t the same thing, and this isn’t an endorsement for Gone Girl, which I strongly disliked.