Soul Drifter

It was released as a single in both Europe and North America, reaching number 53 in Germany and number 31 in Canada. On the Out of the Cradle Tour, "Soul Drifter" was included as the final song of the set. It was later played on Buckingham's 2021 tour promoting his self-titled album.

"Soul Drifter"
Single by Lindsey Buckingham
from the album Out of the Cradle
B-side	"Say We’ll Meet Again"
Released	1992
Genre	Soft rock
Length	3:27
Label	Reprise (North America), Mercury (Europe)
Songwriter(s)	Lindsey Buckingham
Producer(s)	Lindsey Buckingham, Richard Dashut
Lindsey Buckingham singles chronology
"Countdown" (1992) "Soul Drifter" (1992) "Don't Look Down" (1993)

Buckingham stated that the lyrics to "Soul Drifter" were written before they were committed to tape, which contrasted with his usual approach of starting with the instrumentation first. He wrote the song while Fleetwood Mac was at his house mixing Tango in the Night.

Inspired by the music that his parents listened to when they were younger, Buckingham emulated the conventions of Tin Pan Alley music when he wrote "Soul Drifter". "I do think there's a lot to be looked at in that type of music. I tried to get that traditional, Tin Pan Alley sort of approach when I was writing 'Soul Drifter'. So I think there's a lot of validity, just looking at that stuff and appreciating it. Especially if it's part of your background." Several of the guitars were treated with a vari-speed oscillator (VSO), particularly during the intro, which features two guitars playing an ascending line in octaves and another guitar playing a figure in triple meter.

BAM highlighted the song's commercial appeal, saying that it "wouldn't sound out of place on any radio format". Timothy White of Billboard said that the “contrasting layers of Lindsey's multitracked vocals are interwoven with various metronomic riff-sounds that constantly supplant each other before their essential sameness can be detected." The New York Times characterized "Soul Drifter" as "a gorgeous folk-cowboy song" that "ends with quotes from The Tokens' "Lion Sleeps Tonight."

• Lindsey Buckingham – all instruments and vocals