1979Released
3:37

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Tusk - 2015 Remaster. By Songfacts®.

The "Tusk" is slang for penis, so the song is basically about sex. When Stevie Nicks heard the album was going to be called Tusk, she objected, but Mick Fleetwood really wanted to use the title, so he ignored her and she dropped the subject. Stevie Nicks recalled to Mojo in 2015: "I didn't understand the title, there was nothing beautiful or elegant about the word 'tusk.' It really bought to mind those people stealing ivory. Even then, in 1979 you just thought, the rhinos are being poached and that tusks are being stolen and the elephants are being slaughtered and ivory is being sold on the black market. I don't recall it being (Mick's slang term for the male member), that went right over my prudish little head. I wasn't told that until quite a while after the record was done, and when I did find out I liked the title even less!"

The music was based on a riff the band used to play when they were introduced at concerts as the lights came up and they were introduced to the audience. When it came time to record the Tusk album, they decided to use it for a song.

The University of Southern California marching band played on this track. Mick Fleetwood decided to use a big brass sound after a visit to Europe in 1978 where he saw brass bands marching down the street. Speaking with Johnny Black in 1995, Mick Fleetwood explained how it happened: "In soundchecks we used to jam on that riff, and I did the riff in drum form. When it came time to make the album, we pulled that riff out, screwed around with it, put it in the dustbin, and then a year into making that album, I pulled it out again and took it with me as a rough track to Normandy and came up with the idea of using the brass band on it, and using about 100 drummers on it, which we did. That really worked. It's a glorious noise, and it's something I'm proud of because it's all drums. There's really no lyrics to it. So I resurrected that, much to everyone's amazement, and I insisted on recording the USC marching band at Dodger Stadium. By this time they'd thought for sure I'm round the twist, and I said, 'Well, I'm going to pay for it. And we're going to film it.' They thought, 'For sure, he's blown it. He's way off the deep end.'"

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Tusk - 2015 Remaster.
CKey
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
181BPM

Album

The album Tusk - 2015 Remaster is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Tusk - 2015 Remaster.
Rhino/Warner Records
© 2015 Warner Records Inc.
℗ 2015 Warner Records Inc.

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