Never Going Back Again
Or: Going Back To "Never Going Back Again"
Posted by Charlie Recksieck
on 2026-06-23
As a guy in music who's known for writing cynical originals on piano, if known for anything, I find it strange that my most popular song, according to several metrics, is a spontaneous ukelele cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Never Going Back Again."
It's the most Shazamed song of mine, and yes I'm aware I just made up that verb.
It's the recording of mine most linked on Pandora.
I didn't write it.
I didn't even wake up on the day of its recording thinking that I would do it.
Strangest of all, it's a cover song that maybe took 75 minutes.
The song that I put the least amount of time in, generated the best response.
Isn't that always the way?
Sierra West
My friend Sierra West is a talented and accomplished songwriter, the best singer I know, a great friend, and one of those rare people who can captivate a large room just with her voice and her guitar.
I had her up at Big Rock Studios to record some background vocals on the www.link.com Leaders In The Clubhouse album.
In the course of the day, we were talking about "Never Going Back Again", how much I love the live 1980 version, and at some point, probably over pastrami sandwiches, we decided to take a few minutes and record it.
As much as the ukelele is charming on it, and quieting things down opens up the song, it's Sierra's voice that's really center stage.
Sierra moved to Connecticut in 2019 and I still really miss her being around.
We've had great musical times on some stages, in some hotels, music conferences, and I hate having 3000 miles between us.
Ukelele
Playing the ukelele is not really my thing.
I rarely sit around and play it.
The layout of the tuning is a little similar to banjo, a little less to a guitar - but any similarities are more damaging than helpful to guitarists dabbling in ukelele.
Anything I've played on ukelele, I've had to take a few moments to work out.
But instead of the popular "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" uke cover, or Eddie Vedder's stuff from Into The Wild or his Ukulele Songs album, the two songs I really liked playing on my couch watching football were "Never Going Back Again" and Rolling Stones "Brown Sugar."
The beauty of "Never Going Back Again" musically is that it's pretty much just two chords bouncing back and forth - C and G. Then for the "never going back again" chorus finish, you just need to know Am and Em and you're good.
This song was shockingly easy to get on tape.
What does it say that I can play recording-quality ukelele in a studio when I don't really play the instrument?
It says that recording quality and live stage quality are two completely different things.
In a performance environment with Rewind and Delete buttons, it really doesn't take much to be able to play.
This song is testament to that.
Fleetwood Mac
The original is just a beautiful song.
And it's one of many songs that chronicle the Lindsey Buckingham / Stevie Nicks relationship, most of which are about the breakup.
I could make a case that it's the most fascinating, compelling relationship in song history.
Have there ever been two better songwriters in one relationship?
Discuss.
To me, it's about trying to turn the page and not repeat past mistakes - not even necessarily about love.
Here's what Buckingham himself has said about "Never Going Back Again":
"Lyrically, it was a bit naive, because it was obviously about Stevie. By the time I wrote that, we’d had a few ups and downs, and she’d moved away from me more than once and come back. It was about Stevie, and it was also about meeting somebody else. It seemed to reaffirm that there was life after that, and yet, you create this illusion of ’I was down once or twice, but I’m never going back to that again.’ Which is not really the way it works."
As much as the one on
Rumours is iconic, it's this one from
Fleetwood Mac Live that knocks me out.
It’s moody, stretches out, breathy, a little odd.
And it doesn’t hurt that Lindsey Buckingham is one of the great underrated guitarists of rock; his pick-less style is so unique and just like my friend Sierra, he can sound fully realized all by himself with just his voice and guitar:
And I unconsciously was copying and exaggerating Buckinham's affectation of "I've been a-down three times" in my singing, like I was a parody of an Italian chef.
Sierra and producer Andy made fun of me but it couldn't have gone down any other way.
Covers Can Mean A Lot
Sometimes a cover can mean more to a singer than a song he wrote.
At least it can for me.
My slowed down cover of The Killers "Read My Mind" has so many markers and feelings from my life that I'm not going to explain here, it's amazing.
Similarly, this one means a lot to me - even though it's so simple that it borders on oblique, despite the song almost being simplicity itself:
She broke down and let me in
Made me see where I've been
Been down one time
Been down two times
I'm never going back again
You don't know what it means to win
Come down and see me again
Been down one time
Been down two times
I'm never going back again
Long Story Short
Even though it’s not my song, it makes me happy that people like this, even though it's atypically sweet for me.
And sometimes when I hear it, I like that it’s something that will be left behind when I die.
That's the magic of music and time-travel - it can make you replay exact emotions from years earlier.
It makes me think of my friends in music, Sierra in particular.
