"Peacekeeper" is a song by Fleetwood Mac, written by guitarist and vocalist Lindsey Buckingham, from their 17th studio album, Say You Will (2003). It was the first and most commercially successful single released from the album. Buckingham shared vocals with bandmate Stevie Nicks. As of 2024, "Peacekeeper" was the band's most recent song to debut on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it peaked at number 80.[2]
Background
"Peacekeeper" was written in 2000, three years before the release of Say You Will in a house Buckingham was renting with his wife. Warner Bros selected the song as Say You Will's first single, describing the song as "walking a line between something quite modern and something quite familiar".[3]
During the recording process, Buckingham ran some of his vocals through an amplifier with distortion and applied EQ to accentuate the mid range frequencies and eliminate the low end.[4] Buckingham and Mark Needham mixed the song on a 128-trackPro Tools HD system, which was the only song on Say You Will along with "What's the World Coming To?" that required this device. Needham took sections from Buckingham's "Peacekeeper" demo and combined it with a new version that the band recorded.[5]
When asked about the lyrics for "Peacekeeper", Buckingham explained that the song had little to do with global issues or war, but instead pertained to US propaganda and the idea of working towards peace on a continual basis.[3] In an interview with the Miami Herald, Buckingham characterized "Peacekeeper" as a peace song that explored the interplay between institutions and individuals, including those who are unaffected and unmoved by global crises. "It's about how we are becoming increasingly desensitized to things around the world that are brutal and not standing up for human value."[6]
The radio edit differs slightly from the album version by replacing the line "only kill" with "break their will."[3] Some radio stations in Los Angeles played "Peacekeeper" prior to and after news updates on the Iraq War. Buckingham noted that the song was written several years before the Iraq War, but acknowledged the song's salience and recognized that "anything that aspires to be artistic has to have an element of ambiguity to it. There can't be only one interpretation."[8]
"Peacekeeper" entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 93 on March 29.[9] It registered 1,500 paid downloads on its first week, which vaulted the song to number 11 on the Singles Sales Chart. That same week, it also garnered 10.8 million listener impressions.[10] Seven weeks later, the song reached its peak position of number 80. By the time "Peacekeeper" exited the chart, it had tallied 11 consecutive weeks on the Hot 100.[9] In New Zealand, the single proved to be more successful, reaching number 31 on the RIANZ Singles Chart.[11]
Critical reception
People magazine described "Peacekeeper" as a "country-tinged antiwar track" that was "eerily prescient".[12] The Los Angeles Times compared the "wheezily rollicking single" to "Dreams" and "Go Your Own Way".[13]Rolling Stone wrote that songs like "Peacekeeper" "prove that Mac's singular vibe – a sunny, countrified lope against which urgent breakup lyrics blaze - has always been [Buckingham's] doing".[14] Chuck Taylor of Billboard labeled the song as "vintage-quality Mac, familiar in its style and structure, and yet fresh and spirited enough to maintain appeal after countless spins." He also predicted that the song would perform well on all radio formats, particularly adult contemporary radio stations.[15]
Other appearances
"Peacekeeper" appeared on both setlists for Fleetwood Mac's 2003–2004 Say You Will Tour.[16] The song was also included on the DVD version of Live in Boston, which was recorded over the course of two nights in September 2003.[17] A different live recording of "Peacekeeper" was included on the limited deluxe edition of Say You Will, which included a total of four bonus tracks. "Peacekeeper" would later make it onto all editions of 50 Years – Don't Stop in 2018.[18] "Peacekeeper" was one of the songs performed on Sound Stage Presents – Lindsey Buckingham with Special Guest Stevie Nicks, which aired in 2005 on PBS.[19]
