Story Behind The Song
I lost someone I loved too deeply for words in February 2007 to an illness no one could treat. Seeking physical places we hadn't been together - the back streets - was the first step in coming in to terms with it, and became metaphorical in the song as we
Song Description
The feelings of bereavement: the disconnection from normal life that follows the death of a loved one and the need for solitude to heal. 'The Back Streets' are both literal and metaphorical.
| Song Length |
4:49 |
Genre |
Folk - Contemporary |
| Tempo |
Medium Slow (91 - 110) |
Lead Vocal |
Mixed Vocals |
| Mood |
Moving, Poignant |
Subject |
Sorrow, Numbness |
| Similar Artists |
Joan Armatrading, Tracy Chapman |
Language |
English |
| Era |
2000 and later |
| |
Lyrics
The Back Streets
© 2007 by Jamie Ambrose
I?ll take the back streets, I need to find a new way home.
My heart?s missing a beat, and there?s nothing to be done.
The silence of memory is far too loud to bear,
But the weight of present days is not so heavy here.
Out in the back streets, no one knows your name,
And they?ll let me rest in shadow til the sun finds us again.
We?ll let the voices of ages flow by us like a wave,
And pretend a life of choices was never mine to give.
Daylight will come, I know.
There will be open doors, I know.
?It just takes time -?
But what does time take?
(chorus)
As earth turn on around me
As the hours come and go
I?m alright as I can be
Out in the back streets, until I find a new way home
Out in the back streets, it?s never hot or cold
And there?s no one to remind you ?You did all that you could.?
The touch of a lover doesn?t chill you to the bone,
And the hand of a friend?s not so tender that it burns
Daylight will come, I know
There will be open doors, I know
It just takes time
But what does time take?
Where does it take you?
(repeat chorus x2)