I'm So Afraid by Fleetwood Mac in The Song Remembers When

Fleetwood Mac is one of my favorite bands, but it took me some time to get into them. I didn’t really know who they were when I was younger, although I knew many of the songs from their Tango In the Night album, especially Little Lies, because it was popular.

I didn’t see Fleetwood Mac live until 2003. In the 11 years since, I’ve seen them probably about a dozen times. I saw them right after their 2003 album had come out, and I really only had that album and their greatest hits album. When they played “I’m So Afraid,”, I felt like I was in church.

Lindsey Buckingham’s guitar playing is like the musical equivalent to speaking in tongues. It was like I had been struck by a bolt of lightning. It was magic.

When I got home, I found that I didn’t really care for the version of the song on the album. It’s too short, Lindsey’s playing is kept to a minimum. It just felt like a completely different song.

Lucky for me, on that tour, they released a live album which included the song as it was played. (I would soon learn that Fleetwood Mac is kind of a corporate machine in the sense that the create arrangements that last for the entire tour, so each song is played more-or-less the same way every evening.)

As I said before, I’ve seen them quite a bit. I’ve also seen Lindsey solo a few times, and he switches up the song quite a bit, but I’ll always have a soft spot for this version of the song.

As a funny aside, during this last tour, I had my tickets to see Fleetwood Mac and my parents got free tickets to go up in the nosebleed section. They were never huge Mac fans and always thought I was a little odd for being such a young person into an old rock band like this, but they went and had a good time. Afterward, my step-father remarked on how amazing they were.

He asked me about a specific song he really liked and I told him that he was referring to “I’m So Afraid.” He asked me if I liked it and got a good view of the show.

I said, “I had an awesome view. Remember in the song when Lindsey dropped his guitar toward the audience and let the people in the front row strum?” He nodded. “I was one of the strummers.”

They’ve only toured like three or four times, so the reason I’ve gotten to see them as much as I have is because I usually go to at least two shows. One so I can sit in front of Lindsey and get his spit and sweat on me. And the other sitting in front of Stevie so I can try and see up her dress when she twirls. (Hahah jk)

Anyways, here is my favorite version of an amazing song.