As promised yesterday, we are continuing to look at the direction ‘back’ for another day. The six songs that appeared yesterday were just the tip of the iceberg and so here we go with round two.
“My Back Pages” is a song written by Bob Dylan and included on his 1964 album Another Side of Bob Dylan. It is stylistically similar to his earlier folk protest songs and features Dylan’s voice with an acoustic guitar accompaniment. However, its lyrics—in particular the refrain “Ah, but I was so much older then/I’m younger than that now”—have been interpreted as a rejection of Dylan’s earlier personal and political idealism, illustrating his growing disillusionment with the 1960’s folk protest movement with which he was associated, and his desire to move in a new direction. Although Dylan wrote the song in 1964, he did not perform it live until 1988.
“Baby, Come Back” is a song by the English band The Equals from their 1968 album of the same name. Written by Eddy grant, the song was originally released as a b-side in 1966 and was later released as a single in continental Europe before being released as a single in the UK in 1968. “Baby, Come Back” charted in multiple countries, including no. 1 in the Belgian, and UK charts in 1967 and 1968.
“Get Back” is a song recorded by the Beatles and written by Paul McCartney (though credited to Lennon-McCartney), originally released as a single in April 1969 and credited to “The Beatles with Billy Preston”. A different mix of the song became the closing track of Let It Be (1970), which released just after the group split. The single reached number one in the United Kingdom, the United States, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Australia, France, West Germany, Mexico, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, and Belgium. It was the Beatles’ only single that credited another artist at their request. “Get Back” was the Beatles’ first single release in true stereo in the US. In the UK.
“Baby Come Back” is a song by the British-American rock band Player. It was released in late 1977 as the lead single self-titled debut album, and was the breakthrough single for the band, gaining them mainstream success, hitting number one on the US Billboard and number ten on the R&B charts in 1978. As reported in a broadcast of November 1977, “Baby Come Back” was written after two of the band members had broken up with their girlfriends.
“If I Could Turn Back Time” is a song recorded by American singer and actress Cher for her nineteenth studio album Heart of Stone (1989). It was released in July 1989, by Geffen Records as the album’s lead single. The song was written especially for Cher by Diane Warren, who produced it with Guy Roche. Cher initially disliked the track after listening to a demo tape sung by Warren, but subsequently changed her opinion after Warren convinced her to record it. Highly successful around the globe, “If I Could Turn Back Time” was seen as a major comeback for Cher in the late 1980s. It charted at number one in Australia as well as reaching number three in the United States and number six in the United Kingdom.
“Don’t Look Back in Anger” is a song by English band Oasis. It was written by the band’s guitarist and main songwriter Noel Gallagher. The song was produced by Gallagher and Owen Morris. Released in February 1996 as the fourth single from their second studio album, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, it became Oasis’s second single to reach No. 1 in the UK, earning a quadruple-platinum sales certification in the UK. It was the first Oasis single with lead vocals by Noel, who had previously only sung lead on B-sides, instead of his brother Liam. Noel would later sing lead vocals on six more singles.
“Back to Black” is a song by English singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse from her second and final studio album of the same name (2006). It was released by Island Records in April 2007 as the album’s third single. The song was written by Winehouse and Mark Ronson and produced by the latter. “Back to Black” was inspired by Winehouse’s relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil, who had left her for an ex-girlfriend. The single peaked at number eight in the UK in the United Kingdom and is Winehouse’s third best-selling single in that country.
