“I frequently find myself revisiting songs that hold meaning- both old and new,” said Lindsey Buckingham in a short video posted on his social media pages in February 2025. In answering a fan’s questions, Buckingham revealed a band, from his past that he recently started visiting again: Thin Lizzy.
“I go through periods of just revisiting songs out of my past that seem to continue to hold meaning,” said Buckingham. “Something that I’ve been thinking about and listening to a lot, just something out of the blue, are a couple of songs from the band Thin Lizzy.”
Buckingham first mentioned Thin Lizzy’s biggest hit “The Boys Are Back in Town,” before calling out a deeper cut from their 1976 album Jailbreak, “Running Back,” written by bassist and vocalist and the band’s chief songwriter Phil Lynott.
“He [Lynott]had a combination of a Van Morrison meets R&B thing, and they were a great band,” added Buckingham. “And those two songs, in particular, have been on my radar for the last couple of weeks.”
Videos by American Songwriter
[RELATED: Behind the Band Name: Thin Lizzy]
‘Jailbreak’
Jailbreak was a breakthrough one for Thin Lizzy, hitting No. 10 in the UK and peaking at No. 18 on the Billboard 200, along with album hits “Jailbreak” and “The Boys Are Back in Town,” which went to No. 1 on the Irish chart, No. 8 in the UK, and No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album
Lynott wrote “Running Back” from the perspective of someone ready to run back into a relationship that ended.
I’m a fool now that it’s over
Can you guess my name?
I make my money singing songs about you
It’s my claim to fame
When they say it’s over
It’s not all over, there’s still the pain
And I’d come running
I’d come running back to you again
Oh, I’d come running
I’d come running back to you again
If I said I was sorry
Would you still leave me?
I never thought you’d go
‘Til you did, believe me
When they say it’s over
It’s not all over completely
Lynott on Songwriting
“The main thing that pushes me to write a song is to share my personal experiences, plus the sheer ego of thinking my life is so important it should be shared,” said Lynott in a 1976 interview. At the time, Lynott had released his first book of poetry, Songs for While I’m Away in 1974 and a year before the release of its second volume, Philip.
“But I also put it down for meself,” Lynott added about songwriting. “It helps me really get a perception of the phases I was going through. That way both the books and the albums have been a great source, a great guide, for me to see how I’m developing as a person and if I’m actually achieving the things that I originally set out to do.”
Songwriting was also a means to “share an experience,” said Lynott. “I could preach,” he said. “Bob Dylan did it a lot in the old days and a lot of the new wave bands are doing it a lot now. They’re preaching really strong stuff. But I can only do that when I’m right. And I have to go into it a little bit deeper than just a catchy line.”
Along with writing and releasing 12 albums with Thin Lizzy through Thunder and Lightning in 1983, Lynott also released two solo albums, Solo in Soho (1980) and The Philip Lynott Album in 1982, just four years before his death at age 36.
Photo: Lindsey Buckingham performs with Nine Inch Nails during the 56th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on January 26, 2014 (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
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