Second Hand News
original song written and composed by Lindsey Buckingham; first recorded and released by Fleetwood Mac
"Second Hand News" is a song written by Lindsey Buckingham. The song was recorded by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac as the opening track of their 1977 album Rumours.
Background
"Second Hand News" was a frontrunner for the lead track off of the album Rumours. According to author Jacob Hoye, its opening lines "I know there's nothing to say/Someone has taken my place" set the mood for the entire album. "Second Hand News" is one of several songs on Rumours that reflects the romantic breakup of Buckingham and bandmate Stevie Nicks. The song was inspired by the redemption Buckingham was finding in other women after the failed relationship with Nicks. He sings that although he does not trust his lover and cannot live with her, he cannot live without her either. Fleetwood Mac biographer Donald Brackett highlights the irony of lines such as "One thing I think you should know/I ain't gonna miss you when you go."
According to Buckingham, the song incorporates Scottish and Irish folk song influences. Buckingham originally introduced the song to the band on the guitar without any lyrics, with the working title of "Strummer." "Strummer" has appeared on various reissues of "Rumours", including the 3-disc edition released in 2013. Buckingham initially withheld the lyrics to avoid getting into an argument with Nicks over them.
The public source identifies “Second Hand News” as original song written and composed by Lindsey Buckingham; first recorded and released by Fleetwood Mac. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Second, Hand and News.
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Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q19895704. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1977 and 2013.
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This entry incorporates text from “Second Hand News” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.