Originally coming to fame in the mid-1960s singing orchestral pop ballads as the frontman of The Walker Brothers, Walker went on to a solo career balancing a light entertainment/MOR ballad approach with increasing artistic innovations in arrangement and writing. Despite a series of acclaimed albums, a disastrous drop in sales forced him back into straight Middle of the road recordings with little of his own artistic input. This in turn eventually led to a Walker Brothers reunion in the mid-1970s (although the latter eventually moved, by mutual consent, into more avant-garde areas).
From the mid-1980s, Walker revived his solo career while drastically reinventing his artistic and compositional methods, via a series of acclaimed and vividly avant-garde albums. These combined his iconic voice with an unsettling avant-garde approach which owed more to modernist and post-modernist classical composition than to his pop singer past. This change in approach has been compared to "Andy Williams reinventing himself as Stockhausen".
Walker has been a continuing influence on other artists, in particular The Last Shadow Puppets, Marc Almond, Goldfrapp, Douglas Pearce of the band Death in June, Billy MacKenzie of The Associates, David Sylvian, Julian Cope, Antony Hegarty, Thom Yorke, Steven Wilson, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Trey Spruance, Perry Blake, Radiohead, Noah Lennox, Mikael Åkerfeldt, and the Divine Comedy/Neil Hannon.
Walker continued to release solo material until his death, and was signed to 4AD Records. As a record producer or guest performer he worked with a number of artists including Pulp, Ute Lemper, Bat For Lashes and Sunn O))).
The Old Mans Back Again
Scott Walker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It was reaching through the clouds
To risk a dream, the shadow crossed the sky
And it crushed it to the ground, just like a beast
The old man's back again
The old man's back again
She was silent as she watched them take her man
Teardrops burned her cheeks
For she'd thought she'd heard the shadow had left this land
The old man's back again
The old man's back again
The crowds just gathered, their faces turned away
And they queue all day, like dragons of disgust
Older women whispering
Wondering just what these young hot-heads want of us
And Andrei V. he cries, with eyes that ring like chimes
His anti-worlds go spinning through his head
He burns them in his dreams
For half-awake, they may as well be dead
The old man's back again
I see he's back again
I see a soldier, he's standing in the rain
For him there's no old man to walk behind
Devoured by his pain
Bewildered by the faces who pass him by
He'd like another name, the one he's got's a curse
These people cried
Why can't they understand?
His mother called him Ivan, then she died
The old man's back again
The old man's back again
I can see him back again
Da da da da da da da da
The lyrics of the song "The Old Man's Back Again" by Scott Walker narrate a tale of a returning old man who has brought disaster and destruction with him. The song begins with an apocalyptic scene, where a vision of a hand reaching through the clouds, trying to risk a dream, is seen. This is followed by an image of a shadow crushing into the ground like a beast, which sets the tone of the song as one of impending doom. The symbolism of the hand reaching through the clouds can be seen as an attempt to reach for something more significant than oneself, a dream, but it also suggests danger and uncertainty in the pursuit of that dream. The shadow crushing into the ground represents the destruction that follows the old man, although it is not clear who this old man is and what he represents.
The lyrics then shift to the perspective of a woman, standing in the snow, watching as her man is taken away. She sheds tears, thinking that the old man had left this land. The woman's silence is indicative of her helplessness in the situation, while the teardrops burning her cheeks suggest the pain and sorrow she feels. The image of the man being taken away can be interpreted in various ways. Still, it's clear that the old man's return has brought chaos, resulting in people being taken away or lost.
The song concludes with scenes of people gathering, whispering, and queuing, all in a state of disgust at what is happening. There's a soldier standing in the rain, also affected by the old man's return. The soldier is in pain, bewildered by the faces that pass him by, and wishes to escape his curse. The lyrics have multiple interpretations, with some suggesting that the old man is a metaphor for a leader or political figure who is causing chaos.
Line by Line Meaning
I seen a hand, I seen a vision
I witnessed a hand reaching out from the sky and a vision taking a risk to fulfill a dream
It was reaching through the clouds, To risk a dream
The vision was taking a risk and trying to achieve a dream, reaching through the clouds to do so
A shadow cross the sky
A dark shadow moved across the sky
And it crushed into the ground, Just like a beast
The shadow crashed into the ground with the force of a beast
The old man's back again
The old man has returned once more
I seen a woman, standing in the snow
I saw a woman standing alone in the snow
She was silent as she watched them take her man
She watched in silence as they took away the man she loved
Teardrops burned her cheeks
She cried and tears burned her cheeks
for she thought she'd heard, The shadow had left this land
She thought that the shadow had finally left this place and they could live in peace
The crowds just gathered, their faces turned away
The crowds ignored what was happening and looked away in disgust
And they queue all day like dragons of disgust
They lined up all day, showing their anger and disgust like fierce dragons
All the women whispering
All the women spoke in hushed tones
Wondering just what these young hot-heads want of us
They wondered what these young and aggressive people wanted from them
And entres vie he cries
He yells out with a passion
with eyes that ring like chimes
His eyes light up like bells ringing
His anti-worlds go spinning through his head
He imagines worlds that are the opposite of what exists, spinning in his mind
He burns them in his dreams
He destroys these worlds in his dreams
for half awake they may as well be dead
These worlds are meaningless to him and might as well not exist if he's only half-awake
I see he's back again
I can see that the old man has returned once more
I see a soldier, He's standing in the rain
I see a soldier standing alone in the rain
For him there's no old man to walk behind
He has no one to rely on or follow like the old man
Devoured by his pain
He is consumed by his pain and suffering
bewildered by the faces who pass him by
He is confused and lost as he watches the indifferent faces of people passing him by
He'd like another name the one he's got's a curse
He wishes he had a different name, as the name he has is a burden
These people cried
These people shouted out in pain
Why can't they understand
He wonders why they can't empathize with him and understand his suffering
His mother called him Ivan then she died
His mother had named him Ivan before she passed away
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Scott Engel
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@mirsadathossain3932
I seen a hand, I seen a vision
It was reaching through the clouds, To risk a dream
A shadow cross the sky
And it crushed into the ground, Just like a beast
The old man's back again
The old man's back again
I seen a woman, standing in the snow
She was silent as she watched them take her man
Teardrops burned her cheeks
for she thought she'd heard, The shadow had left this land
The old man's back again
The old man's back again
The crowds just gathered, their faces turned away
And they queue all day like dragons of disgust
All the women whispering
Wondering just what these young hot-heads want of us
And entres vie he cries
with eyes that ring like chimes
His anti-worlds go spinning through his head
He burns them in his dreams
for half awake they may as well be dead
The old man's back again
I see he's back again
I see a soldier, He's standing in the rain
For him there's no old man to walk behind
Devoured by his pain
bewildered by the faces who pass him by
He'd like another name the one he's got's a curse
These people cried
Why can't they understand
His mother called him Ivan then she died
The old man's back again
The old man's back again
I can see him back again
@illumimason7724
People keep talking about the bassline, but those violins deserve just as much credit, so beautiful! Gives me goose bumps every time!
@anthonycardott3541
and the belching choir
@illumimason7724
@@anthonycardott3541 love the belching choir, gregorian chanting is always welcomed
@davidsmith5899
Yeah actually very London 50’s vibe with those strings.....interval music when waiting for the A film lol
@johangalician620
There was a Walker documentary (I'm trying to find it again just now, without success so far) where they found the lady (!) composer (in her 70's then) who had arranged those strings! It was really funny, because she could barely remember she arranged that song, and when they were playing it back to her she was like "Damn, that's a pretty good arrangement! That's really me?" :)
@JanDiMattia
Love this song on Blacklist series 😊❤❤
@chrisleddy2414
The bassline is incredible. Its like a stranger rummaging in your backpack.
@gentlemanloser6787
That's a brilliant description!
@MichaelDGorman
Do you write Chris, do you pen reviews, the odd poetic line?
@blingn27
No idea wtf you mean , but I can get behind that