Read Full Bio ↴Robert James is essentially recognised as a guitarist and songwriter.
With the release of his first solo album "Suzannah Suite", his emotive voice and orchestration skills have come to the fore.
His unique guitar style is evident on the recordings of seminal Australian band GANGgajang. Their song, "Sounds Of Then" (This Is Australia) has become an Australian classic.
His guitar playing has coloured dozens of other albums by Australian artists, as have his songs -most notably several albums by Wendy Matthews.Indeed his song "Homecoming Song" on Wendy's CD "Lily" was the lyrical starting point for the
Back to You
Robert James Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Back then in and out of love I flew
Never focused just on you
I was chasing girls, but not one was better than you
I drift away, I row my boat
Couldn't stop me, cause I'd rather sink then float
I had to learn it on my own
And date a few girls
And every time I broke your heart
You'd cry until your daddy said
Stay strong and let him depart
Cause he knew I'd be back again
Ohh I'm sorry for all that pain
Cause I never spent my time on you
All the mistakes I made
I was always, always coming back to you
You told me to stay
Cause I never spent my time on you
And when I went away
I was always, always coming back to you
Coming back
Always coming back
Back to you
Teenage me I was full of bad news
Sneaking you in from the window of my room
Grab a fifth of daddy's whiskey trying impress you
Left you, went south
Caught up with some girls at school
Then one day you got the call
I was leaving you, yet again my fault
Dumb young boy chasing waterfalls
At the end of it all
The rivers ran back to you
And every time I broke your heart
You'd cry until your daddy said
Stay strong and let him depart
Cause he knew I'd be back again
Ohh I'm sorry for all that pain
Cause I never spent my time on you
All the mistakes I made
I was always, always coming back to you
You told me to stay
Cause I never spent my time on you
And when I went away
I was always, always coming back to you
I'm coming
I'm coming back to you
I'm coming
I'm coming back
Cause I need you
And if we fight I promise I won't ever leave you
If there's a problem you will be the one I run to
I will never put someone else above you
Cause I trust you
Yeah I need you
If we fight I promise I won't ever leave you
If there's a problem you will be the one I run to
I will never put someone else above you
Cause I trust you
Yeah
All them girls
They had no clue
Everybody was wrong about you
Forever yours girl I surrender
I can't be without you
Remember when they said that
We'd never last this long
Well we proved them wrong
Cause every single day I go to work and then home
Always coming back to you
I'm sorry for all that pain
Cause I never spent the time on you
All the mistakes I made
I was always, always coming back to you
But now until I die someday
I will always spend the time on you
And if you feel the same way
Then I'll always, always come home to you
The song "Back to You" by Robert James is a nostalgic track about a man realizing that he has always been in love with his childhood sweetheart. The lyrics begin with the singer reflecting about the past, stating that he used to be clueless about his true feelings for his love interest. He acknowledges that he was easily sidetracked by the attention of other women and was never able to focus on his one true love. However, he was always subconsciously drawn back to her.
The singer then narrates his past experiences with his love interest, recounting how he had hurt her multiple times but she never gave up on him. The lines "And every time I broke your heart, You'd cry until your daddy said, Stay strong and let him depart, Cause he knew I'd be back again" show how his partner's dad believed that he would eventually realize his true feelings and come back to her.
The chorus of the song repeats the lines "I'm sorry for all that pain, Cause I never spent my time on you, All the mistakes I made, I was always, always coming back to you" emphasising the singer's regrets about not valuing his love interest earlier in his life. He then promises to always be faithful to his partner and prioritizes her over any other girl.
Overall, the lyrics convey a sense of maturity and an understanding of how true love never fades away. The song shows how sometimes it takes time, growth, and experiences to realize that one's true love has been right in front of them all along.
Line by Line Meaning
I never thought it would be us two
I couldn't imagine that we could end up together
Back then in and out of love I flew
I had a lot of relationships and didn't settle down
Never focused just on you
I didn't give you the attention you deserved
I was chasing girls, but not one was better than you
I was looking for someone else, but no one compared to you
I drift away, I row my boat
I tend to be detached and keep to myself
Couldn't stop me, cause I'd rather sink then float
I'd rather fail on my own than ask for help
I had to learn it on my own
I had to make my own mistakes
And date a few girls
I had to date other people
Who never gave a shh I know
Who didn't care about me like you did
And every time I broke your heart
I hurt you repeatedly
You'd cry until your daddy said
You were so upset that your dad had to comfort you
Stay strong and let him depart
He advised you to be strong and let me go
Cause he knew I'd be back again
He knew I would come back to you eventually
Ohh I'm sorry for all that pain
I apologize for making you suffer
Cause I never spent my time on you
I didn't prioritize you enough
All the mistakes I made
I've made a lot of wrong choices
I was always, always coming back to you
But I always came back to you because I realized you were the one
You told me to stay
You wanted me to be with you
Teenage me I was full of bad news
I was a troubled teenager
Sneaking you in from the window of my room
I wanted to be with you even when we weren't supposed to be
Grab a fifth of daddy's whiskey trying impress you
I was trying to impress you by doing something reckless
Left you, went south
I left you and went in a different direction
Caught up with some girls at school
I got involved with some other girls at school
Then one day you got the call
You found out I was leaving you again
Yet again my fault
It was my fault for hurting you again
Dumb young boy chasing waterfalls
I was foolishly pursuing something that was unattainable
At the end of it all
After everything was said and done
The rivers ran back to you
I realized that everything led me back to you
I'm coming back to you
I'm returning to you
Cause I need you
Because I can't imagine my life without you
And if we fight I promise I won't ever leave you
I vow to stick by you through all our disagreements
If there's a problem you will be the one I run to
You'll always be the first person I turn to when I need help
I will never put someone else above you
You'll always be my top priority
Cause I trust you
I have complete faith in you
All them girls
All those other girls
They had no clue
They didn't understand what we had
Everybody was wrong about you
Everyone misjudged you
Forever yours girl I surrender
I'm willing to commit to you for life
Remember when they said that
Do you recall when people told us that
We'd never last this long
Our relationship wouldn't survive for a long time
Well we proved them wrong
But we showed them they were mistaken
Cause every single day I go to work and then home
Every day, I work and then come back to you
I was always, always coming back to you
Because you're the only one for me
But now until I die someday
For the rest of my life
I will always spend the time on you
I'll devote my time to you
And if you feel the same way
If you feel the same as I do
Then I'll always, always come home to you
I'll always return to you
Lyrics © DistroKid
Written by: Robert Ritchie
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind