Never Going Back Again

Syria: Well. It has certainly been a busy week. Starting with the country of Syria, which, in its Ba'athist configuration - no longer exists. Former President Bashar al-Assad has, as they say, left the building.

As a temporary (perhaps) but clearly necessary action, צה״ל (Israel Defense Forces) have captured the back side (the front side being in Israel's hands since 1974) of Mount Hermon, facing toward Damascus. Just in case the new rebel "government" of Syria gets any ideas.

But wait! There's more! צה״ל has also employed this miraculous serendipity to destroy Syria's military - missile depots, naval vessels, fighter jets, and more - just to make sure they don’t fall into the wrong hands.

And what about the Syrian Jewish community? Despite what you may have heard from various MSM (MainStream Media, not methylsulfonylmethane or My Singing Monsters) outlets, the community thrives in Brooklyn, Deal (NJ), Israel, and elsewhere - but not in Syria itself. Depending on the source, there are only three or four Jews left in Syria.

 

All of which brought to what is left, after all these years, of Abq Jew's mind, the stunning duet of Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks - you know, of Fleetwood Mac - performing Never Going Back Again.

Alright ... Abq Jew was conducting what we used to, in those halcyon Intel DVI days, call "video research" - on YouTube, when he found this gem. Lindsay wrote this song (back in 1977) because of Stevie, and here (in 2005) is singing from his heart - to her.

The words, Abq Jew and other reviewers have noted, are not important. This sweet, naive song simply reflects a desire not to repeat previous mistakes. But they do highlight Abq Jew's theme - 

Click here for video

A note for all you guitar mavens out there:

On "Never Going Back Again", Buckingham accompanies himself on acoustic guitar using a Travis picking technique. 

To capture the optimal sound, producer Ken Caillat suggested that Buckingham's acoustic guitar be restrung every 20 minutes. Caillat pitied the guitar tech's job of restringing the acoustic guitar three times an hour for "the entire day", but approved of Buckingham's "magnificent" instrumental passages.

"Never Going Back Again" is set in a 4-4 signature at a moderate tempo of 88 beats per minute, in the key of F sharp major. Buckingham's guitar is in Drop D tuning with a capo on the fourth fret.

Abq Jew notes with awe the fact that Lindsay Buckingham could play guitar like that in 1977 (or earlier), when he was 27 years old (or younger). And that he could still play guitar like that or even better when he got older.

There is (always) hope. Some things do get better with time.