Rock & Roll Hall of Fame drummer Mick Fleetwood released today a new recording and video for Mick Fleetwood’s Da*da*ism “These Strange Times,” available on Rhino Records. Originally released on Fleetwood Mac’s 16th studio album Time in 1995, the song was re-recorded adding thirty seconds of Peter Green’s “Albatross” to the end of the song and set to a brand-new video.
Inspired by an eighteenth-century painting, the newly released video and accompanying single artwork are centered around the idea of something greater than us, which lies at the core of our very human struggle to be our best selves.
“The project is about the energy of choice, of deciding if you want to be a part of the dark or the light when push comes to shove, which seems very apropos at this moment in history,” Fleetwood says. “It’s about how you read things, which is very important today. Everyone needs to be carefully paying attention to the information coming our way. There is subtext to everything and we need to be aware of that. When I first encountered the painting that inspired the photoshoot, it was a soul-searching exercise that I was driven to do but I didn’t know when would be the time to release it. Now I know why: the when is now.”
The spoken-word poem at the center of the song finds the narrator, Fleetwood, questioning his feelings and his thoughts, as he has found himself stuck between the dark and the light.The video is meant to be as thought provoking as the song is hypnotic, as the lyrics detail the struggle of the narrator.
“I hope the song conveys that life is about choice,” Fleetwood says. “God is everything, no matter what your belief system is. Being in love is God, no matter your creed. There’s a rejoicing at the end of the song when the narrator chooses the side of the light. The song is about all of us making that choice ourselves and the relief we feel when we are no longer caught in the middle.”
“This is something I wrote many years ago,” Fleetwood says, “and I want it to be nothing more than thought provoking. I want people to see and hear what they will in it. My hope is that by sharing these thought-provoking moments in my world that I can somehow open the eyes of others to things in their world and to the existence we all share, which is more and more endangered with each passing day.”
Song Credits:
Title: These Strange Times
Artist: Mick Fleetwood’s Da * da * ism
Composers: Mick Fleetwood, Ray Kennedy and Peter Green
Executive Producers: Mick Fleetwood and Carl Stubner
Produced by Lynn Peterson, Mick Fleetwood, John Jones and Ray Kennedy
Recorded and Mixed by: Lynn Peterson and John Jones
Additional Engineering: Jimmy Hotz
Recorded in the USA
Vocals: Mick Fleetwood & Bekka Bramlett
Lead Guitars: Rick Vito
Acoustic Guitars, Drums & Percussion: Mick Fleetwood
Bass Guitar: John Jones
Keyboards: Ricky Peterson & John Jones
Background vocals: Lucy Fleetwood
Fleetwood Mac’s third studio album, ‘Then Play On’, featuring the legendary late Peter Green, will be reissued on CD and vinyl tomorrow, September 18, 2020 via BMG. It is currently available for fans to pre-order, HERE.
This deluxe, expanded bookpack edition of the album will feature the original UK tracklisting, plus four bonus tracks; all mastered at half speed for dynamic range, and with the vinyl 2 LP version being pressed on 180g audiophile black vinyl.
The CD will come with a mediabook, while the 2LP will come with a 16 page book pack, with both featuring brand new sleevenotes by Fleetwood biographer Anthony Bozza and a personal foreword by Mick Fleetwood himself.
The Celebration Edition is being reissued as a prelude to the worldwide release of the Mick Fleetwood And Friends Celebrate The Music Of Peter Green concert film honoring the legacy of Peter Green, set for release later this year.
First released on September 19, 1969, ‘Then Play On’ was the first of Fleetwood Mac’s original albums to feature Danny Kirwan, and the last with Peter Green, who sadly passed away last week, July 25, 2020.
Taking its title from the opening line of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night – ‘If music be the food of love, play on’ – the album offered a broader stylistic range than the classic blues of the group's first two albums.
Featuring some of the early incarnation of Fleetwood Mac’s most notable songs, such as ‘The Green Manilishi’, ‘Searching For Madge’, and ‘Oh Well Pts. 1 & 2’, the album is revered as a genre-pushing record and a lynch-pin piece of the vast Fleetwood Mac repertoire.
‘Then Play On’ went on to reach #6 in the UK, subsequently becoming the band's fourth Top 20 hit album in a row, as well as their third album to reach the Top 10.
Tracklisting:
Coming Your Way
Closing My Eyes
Fighting For Madge
When You Say
Show-Biz Blues
Under Way
One Sunny Day
Although The Sun Is Shining
Rattlesnake Shake
Without You
Searching For Madge
My Dream
Like Crying
Before The Beginning
Oh Well – Pt. 1
Oh Well – Pt. 2
The Green Manalishi ( With The Two Prong Crown)
World In Harmony
Mick Fleetwood called into the Morning Breeze to talk about Fleetwood Mac's days in San Francisco! Listen below...
Watch and listen to Mick's re-release of "These Strange Times" below...