She is known for her sense of humor, which is expressed in both her music and her onstage performances. Many of her songs alternate between emotional reflections on romance and outright comedy. Two of her more famous songs include "Sensitive New Age Guys" and "Bald Headed Men".
Never Go Back
Christine Lavin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
About being back in my old hometown
The house was still standing
Just like I remember
Except now the roses bloom
All year round
I was playing with the Callahan twins
Silly silly schoolgirl fun
We didn't know about alcohol
We didn't know one of us would die young
We can never go back
So why do I try
And why does the past loom closer
Every time I close my eyes
We can never return
We should keep moving on
I wish these memories would
Burn down to ashes
Blow away and be gone.
He gave me one of those looks last night
I had no choice but to walk away
I could not talk to him
I could not deal with him
I couldn't hear what he had to say
He flatly refuses to ever forget
So he tries to remind me whenever he can
He doesn't know all that I've been through
He doesn't know that it hurt me to
He doesn't know what was could never be again
He can never go back
So why does he try
And why does the past loom closer
By chance he catches my eye
He can never return
He should keep moving on
I wish these memories would
Burn down to ashes
Blow away and be gone.
Now there's a Callahan girl
But no Callahan twins
Except when I dream of life as it had been
Like he probably dreams of me
And how it used to be
Back when I was in love with him
I try to cut the ropes
Cut the strings and threads
Cut the ties that choke
That link the living with the dead
And still I can never hide
When day and night collide
I find myself wide awake in bed.
We can never go back
So why do we try
And why does the past loom closer
Every night when I close my eyes
We can never return
We should keep moving on
I wish these memories would
Burn down to ashes
Blow away and be gone.
Christine Lavin's song "Never Go Back" is an emotional and reflective piece that speaks about the yearning to go back to the past, to relive the cherished moments and memories, and the realization that it is an impossible wish. The singer paints a nostalgic picture of her hometown, where everything seemed perfect, the house she grew up, her playmates, the Callahan twins, and how they used to be carefree and innocent, unaware of the challenges that awaited them. Now, as an adult, she looks back in awe, realizing how much has changed, and how that time and those people are gone forever.
Throughout the song, the singer uses the refrain, "We can never go back, so why do we try," to express the futility of trying to hold onto something that has already passed. However, some people refuse to move on, like the man mentioned in the second verse, who still longs for a past that has gone. The singer cannot deal with him; he reminds her of things that hurt her and of a time that can never be repeated. Moreover, the singer imagines that the Callahan girl has grown up, the twins are no more, and that she and the man in her past both imagine life as it had been, the way we tend to romanticize the past. However, the singer acknowledges that it's time to let go, cut the ties and strings, and look forward to what the future holds.
Line by Line Meaning
I had another one of those dreams
I had a dream that took me back to my childhood home
About being back in my old hometown
The dream was about me being transported back to my old hometown
The house was still standing
The house in my dream was still the same as I remembered it
Just like I remember
Everything in my dream was exactly how I remembered it from my childhood
Except now the roses bloom
The only difference in my dream was that the roses were blooming all year round
All year round
Throughout the entire year, the roses would be in full bloom
I was playing with the Callahan twins
In my dream, I was playing with my old childhood friends, the Callahan twins
Silly silly schoolgirl fun
We were having childlike fun together, as schoolgirls would
We didn't know about cigarettes
We were too young and innocent to know about smoking cigarettes
We didn't know about alcohol
We were too young and ignorant to know what alcohol was
We didn't know one of us would die young
None of us knew that one of us would die at such a young age
We can never go back
It is impossible to return to the past
So why do I try
I still try to revisit my past in my dreams
And why does the past loom closer
The past seems to come closer every time I dream about it
Every time I close my eyes
Whenever I try to sleep, the past haunts me
We can never return
We cannot go back to an earlier time in our lives
We should keep moving on
We need to focus on the present and look towards the future instead of the past
I wish these memories would
I pray for these memories to disappear
Burn down to ashes
I want the memories to be obliterated and destroyed
Blow away and be gone.
I need these memories to dissipate and be forgotten
He gave me one of those looks last night
He looked at me in a way that reminded me of the past
I had no choice but to walk away
I had to walk away to avoid getting more hurt
I could not talk to him
I did not want to have a conversation with him
I could not deal with him
I did not want to deal with his behavior
I couldn't hear what he had to say
I refused to listen to what he had to say
He flatly refuses to ever forget
He adamantly refuses to forget the past
So he tries to remind me whenever he can
He tries to remind me of what happened in the past
He doesn't know all that I've been through
He is not aware of all the hardships I have faced
He doesn't know that it hurt me to
He does not know that his actions have caused harm and pain to me
He doesn't know what was could never be again
He is unaware that what we shared in the past can never be repeated
Now there's a Callahan girl
One of the Callahan twins has been replaced by another girl now
But no Callahan twins
The other Callahan twin is no longer in the picture
Except when I dream of life as it had been
I only see the Callahan twins in my dreams from the past
Like he probably dreams of me
He also probably dreams of me in the same way
And how it used to be
He dreams about how things used to be between us
Back when I was in love with him
When I was still in love with him in the past
I try to cut the ropes
I try to sever the ties that bind me to the past
Cut the strings and threads
I want to cut every possible link to my past
Cut the ties that choke
I want to free myself from the ties that are suffocating me
That link the living with the dead
These ties also connect us with the people who have passed away
And still I can never hide
Despite all my efforts, I cannot entirely escape the past
When day and night collide
When my internal conflicts come to the fore and haunt me
I find myself wide awake in bed.
I am left awake, with my thoughts grappling with the past.
Contributed by Addison Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.