On June 16, 1992, it was the Summer before my Sophomore year of college at UNC-Asheville. Lindsey Buckingham released his solo album “Out of the Cradle.”

I had to keep up with my requirements for the BMG CD Club and was taking the opportunity to expand my musical tastes by getting albums from anybody I had ever heard of, or that looked interesting. Even though I wasn’t a huge Fleetwood Mac fan at the time, I selected the album as one of my deliveries during the late Summer.

As a lifelong Democrat, pacifist, and member of the Quaker faith, I felt that society was suffering under the warmonger we had then as a President – George Bush, Sr. I was 18 years old and was in fear of being drafted into the Army.

Enter Bill Clinton’s campaign for President. The possibility of being released from the grips of the Republican regime gave America hope… and gave me hope. I snapped this “selfie” (with a film camera) in my dorm room, weeks before the election:

[PICTURE NOT FOUND] Jesse Selfie: Hope in ’92

As I played “Out of the Cradle” over and over again during the Summer and Fall of 1992, it became forever tied to that time of political change, especially his song “Countdown” which I assumed was about the election.* Check out the lyrics:

I’ve been waiting on the countdown
Things about to turn around
And now I’m out of the lost and found
Just waiting on the countdown

So I’m sitting in the shade
Under the dreaming tree
Now the madness fades
Right here I’m going to be

–Lindsey Buckingham, “Countdown”

It was the first time I was able to vote, and I proudly cast my vote for Bill Clinton. The next day, USA Today declared his victory with this headline: LANDSLIDE.

Over the last couple of months, as we dreamed once again of a Democratic rescue to the insanity of the Trump administration, I found myself listening to the album a lot, and it really brought back those memories of hope from nearly 30 years ago… thoughts that we really could return the country to a more liberal time.

While in the middle of writing this blog, it was finally announced that Joe Biden had won, after more than four excruciating days of wondering. Today, I snapped this picture:

And just like the day after the election 28 years ago, people celebrated worldwide.

*Sadly, I wasn’t able to find any definitive proof that Lindsey Buckingham wrote “Waiting for the Countdown” about the 1992 election.

Fleetwood Mac’s song “Don’t Stop” was synonymous with President Bill Clinton’s campaign, and in fact, Lindsey reunited (for one night) with his former band for the Inauguration of Bill Clinton on January 20, 1993, and performed the song live:https://www.youtube.com/embed/A3JA1nWPFqM?feature=oembed

Magnet Magazine hinted at the political nature of the song:

The canned guitar and drum sounds only enhance the infectiousness of “Countdown.” The ubiquitous-ness of “Don’t Stop” during Bill Clinton’s ‘92 presidential campaign—and Buckingham’s reunion with Mac for the inauguration—cast this single to the margins. But it’s a summery gem, which Buckingham caps with a signature searing solo. 

–Magnet Magazine

That wasn’t the only song on the album which seemed to have political undertones. Here are some of the lyrics of the song “This is the Time:”

Sanity
We long to see you
Keep our ears down to the track
Honesty
Did we desert you?
Is the truth ever coming back?

This is the time of the new sign
This is the sign of the new line
Time, this is the time
Time, this is the time
Revenge and fear
How can we heal you
With our heads down on the block?

–Lindsey Buckingham “This is the Time”