By the time of their debut album, 1980's Crocodiles - a moderate UK hit - the drum machine had been replaced by Pete de Freitas. Their next, the critically-acclaimed Heaven Up Here, reached the Top Ten in 1981, as did 1983's Porcupine and '84's Ocean Rain. Singles like "The Killing Moon" (later used in the soundtrack to Donnie Darko, a film whose imagery owed much to the artwork of the band's early records.), "Silver," "Bring on the Dancing Horses," and "The Cutter" helped keep the group in the public eye as they took a brief hiatus in the late 1980s. Their 1987 self-titled LP was a small American hit, their only LP to have significant sales there.
McCulloch quit the band in 1988. De Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident one year later. The others decided to continue, recruiting Noel Burke to replace McCulloch on vocals in Reverberation (1990), which did not generate much excitement among fans or critics. Burke, Sargeant and Pattinson split after that, but the surviving three fourths of the original band reformed in 1997 and released Evergreen (1997), What are You Going to Do with Your Life? (1999), Flowers (2001) , Siberia (2005), and the latest addition, The Fountain (2009). The group's old audience liked the return to their classic sound, and they also managed to gain a number of new, younger listeners.
Echo and the Bunnymen were managed early on by Bill Drummond, who went on to be a founder member of The KLF.
Back Of Love
Echo & the Bunnymen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Chopping off my stopping thought
Self doubt and selfism
Were the cheapest things I ever bought
When you say it's love
D'you mean the back of love
When you say it's love
D'you mean the back of love?
We're taking advantage of
Breaking the back of love
We're taking advantage of
Breaking the back of love
Easier said than done you said
But it's more difficult to say
With eyes bigger than our bellies
We want to but we can't look away
What were you thinking of
When you dreamt that up?
What were you thinking of
When you dreamt that up?
Taking advantage of
Breaking the back of love
When you're surrounded
by a simple chain of events
(Behind my eyes, behind my eyes)
(Your eyes don't lie)
Eventually you'll shack those shackles off
(Dreams above those eyes)
(Those eyes)
We can't tell our left from right
But we know we love extremes
Getting to grips with the ups and downs
Because there's nothing in between
When you say that's love
D'you mean the back of love
When you say that's love
D'you mean the back of love?
Taking advantage of
Breaking the back of love
What were you thinking of
When you dreamt that up?
We're taking advantage of
We're breaking the back of love
Breaking the back of love
The lyrics in Echo & the Bunnymen's "The Back of Love" seem to suggest a conflict between love and the pressures of the self. The singer describes being on the "chopping block," trying to cut away their own self-doubt and self-centeredness. The question posed by the chorus, "When you say it's love / D'you mean the back of love?" suggests that the idea of love can be elusive or a facade, a representation of something deeper, more complicated, or unattainable.
The lines, "We can't tell our left from right / But we know we love extremes" suggest a sense of confusion or uncertainty about how to navigate one's emotions. The reference to being "surrounded by a simple chain of events" could be interpreted as being trapped in a cycle of repetitive patterns or failing to see the larger context of a situation. Yet despite all this, the singer asserts their determination to "break the back of love," suggesting a desire to move beyond these limitations and find a deeper, truer version of love.
Overall, the song seems to be an exploration of the complexities of love and one's own psyche, acknowledging the difficulty of reconciling the two.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm on the chopping block
I feel like I'm being put in a vulnerable position
Chopping off my stopping thought
Trying to push away negative thoughts that are stopping me from moving forward
Self doubt and selfism
Lack of confidence and selfishness
Were the cheapest things I ever bought
Unfortunately, I didn't realize these negative traits were hurting myself even more
When you say it's love
When you claim that it's love
D'you mean the back of love
Do you signify something less deep than true love?
We're taking advantage of
We're exploiting something for our own gain
Breaking the back of love
Damaging the core of love we once had
Easier said than done you said
It's easier to advise than to put into action
But it's more difficult to say
But it's actually harder to articulate
With eyes bigger than our bellies
Behaving ambitiously without the resources to fulfill it
We want to but we can't look away
We're too obsessed to pay attention to anything else
What were you thinking of
What was going through your mind
When you dreamt that up?
When you came up with that idea?
When you're surrounded by a simple chain of events
When you're in a cycle of expected actions
(Behind my eyes, behind my eyes)
I'm hiding something deep inside
(Your eyes don't lie)
I see the truth in your eyes
Eventually you'll shack those shackles off
Sooner or later, you will be free from those restrictions
(Dreams above those eyes)
My aspirations are higher than what can be perceived by others
(Those eyes)
My true intentions are shown through my eyes
We can't tell our left from right
We're confused with the correct course of action
But we know we love extremes
We're drawn to extremes even though we don't have a clear direction
Getting to grips with the ups and downs
We're learning to adapt to the highs and lows of life
Because there's nothing in between
Because we don't know how to handle anything in between the extremes
Taking advantage of
Exploiting something for our own gain
Breaking the back of love
Damaging the core of love we once had
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: PETER LOUIS VINCENT DE FREITAS, LESLIE THOMAS PATTINSON, WILLIAM ALFRED SERGEANT, IAN STEPHEN MCCULLOCH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind