The Fleetwood Mac song Lindsey Buckingham called “very ironic”
Fleetwood Mac’s songwriting tradition often drew from personal experiences, providing the emotional fuel for their music. However, in 2003, they departed from this approach with the release of ‘Peacemaker’, written by Lindsey Buckingham. This marked a shift as the band delved into broader themes, including global politics, in their lyrics.
The world was going through a dark time in 2003 as war raged on in Afghanistan and Iraq. Seemingly, the track was a response to these tragic events, which cost countless lives in the Middle East. However, Buckingham had first penned ‘Peacekeeper’ several years prior, but it had taken on a new meaning and a relevancy that he would never have wished to anticipate.
The song, taken from Fleetwood Mac’s Say You Will, references war and the propaganda that helps fuel the machine. Buckingham sings: “Peacekeeper, take your time, Wait for the dark of night, Soon all the suns will rise, Peacekeeper, don’t tell why, Don’t be afraid to fight, Love is the sweet surprise.”
At the time of release, the notion of love being able to save the world from bombs being dropped on innocent civilians in the Middle East was almost laughable. Furthermore, the twisted irony of singing about a supposed peacekeeper intent on killing wasn’t lost on Buckingham.
The musician told Performing Songwriter in 2003: “I wrote the song about two and a half years ago. It was, in a very ironic way, looking at the kind of thinking that is matter of fact and desensitized towards certain actions that go on in the world, and the kind of blankness and conformity that goes along with that. And then trying to look at what does that do for a married couple trying to work out their problems. How does it affect them? What is peace, really?”
Elaborating on his thought process while penning the track, Buckingham revealed his thoughts on peace and why he nihilistically believes it’s a concept that will never be entirely achievable. “The whole idea that there can be any static condition is obviously an illusion. So, can there ever really be peace? There can be moments of peace or long periods of peace, possibly, whether it’s in the world or in a relationship,” he added.
Buckingham concluded: “But it seems to me what peace really means is valuing the ideal of that and just being mindful of it, working towards the maintenance of it, even though you understand it will not always exist. But the irony of being matter of fact about not thinking that way is really what the song is doing.”
When Buckingham originally wrote ‘Peacekeeper’, it was inconceivable to predict how the world would prove him correct to question the meaning of peace. However, a broader context is attached to the song, which is also about the difficulties in a relationship. Buckingham expertly used the setting of warfare to explore this topic tacitly. Yet, understandably, due to wider events, the secondary meaning of ‘Peacemaker’ was largely overlooked upon release.
