Raleigh NC Al… Read Full Bio ↴There are several bands with the name The Backsliders:
Raleigh NC Alt-country band:
The Backsliders are an alternative-traditional country-rock band composed of Chip Robinson, Steve Howell, Danny Kurtz, Jeff Dennis, and Brad Rice. Chip Robinson teamed up with Steve Howell to form The Backsliders, which began as a duo in 1991 in Athens, GA. The group formed in 1994, and disbanded in 1999. The band has since reunited in late 2012.
Dallas TX Powerpop band:
The Backsliders (often capitalized as THe BAcksliders) is a rock and roll band from Dallas, Texas. Their third and newest full-length album, "Thank You", is available for free download on their website, www.thebacksliders.com as of May 2009.
Touring from coast to coast in the U.S. and winning both "Best Hard Rock" award in 2008 and "Best Blues" in 2007 from the Dallas Observer Music Awards, THe BAcksliders are fronted by:
Kim Bonner (formerly of Polygram recording artist, Vibrolux)
Chris Bonner (Sons of Sound) on guitar
Jason Bonner (The Vain) on bass, and
Taylor Young (The O's, Young Heart Attack) on drums.
Australian delta-blues band:
The Backsliders are a three piece Australian band; self described as playing "Delta-blues wall of sound". The current line up (as of Dec. 2007) consists of Guitarist/Vocalist Dom Turner and drummer/percusionist Rob Hirst joined on alternating nights by either Brod Smith or Ian Collard on harmonica.
The Backsliders formed in 1986 in Sydney, Australia with Dom Turner on guitars, mandolin and vocals, Rex Hill on harmonica and Peter Burgess on washboard,drums, percusion and backing vocals.
In 1989 Hill was replaced by Jim Conway on harmonica. This line up of the band recorded several critically acclaimed albums including 1999's Poverty Deluxe which was nominated for an ARIA award in the Best Blues and Roots album category.
Broken Wings
The Backsliders Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Through the bottom of a beer glass,
from a table near the bar.
As my memory carefully retraces every footstep
that's brought me down this far.
The distance from the bottle to the floor
gets closer every time I drink one more.
Blind with an angel with broken wings
Well every time I think of all the places
where trouble seemed to find me and knock me to the ground,
darkness fell and covered all around me
giving life to the shadow that I'm bound.
The distance from the bottle to the floor
gets closer every time I drink one more.
Tonight I'll get so blind that I can't sing
Blind with an angel with broken wings.
Every night I see the smiling faces
but the loneliness reminds me of who I am come closing time.
So as the neon lights, and laughter fades behind me,
to the strains of A Satisfied Mind...
The distance from the bottle to the floor
gets closer every time I drink one more.
Tonight I'll get so blind that I can't sing
Blind with an angel with broken wings.
In The Backsliders's song "Broken Wings," the singer is a lonely and troubled character who spends his time in a bar, drowning his sorrows in alcohol. He describes the smiling faces he sees every night, but they only serve as a reminder of his own loneliness. He looks back on the path that brought him to this point, trying to retrace his steps and understand how he ended up here. He compares himself to an angel with broken wings, unable to fly and unable to escape his troubles.
The lyrics also speak to the destructive cycle of addiction. The distance from the bottle to the floor gets closer every time he drinks, and he knows that his drinking will only lead him further down a dark path. He plans to drink so much that he can't even sing, which is a tragic statement on how far he has fallen.
Line by Line Meaning
Every night I see the smiling faces
Despite feeling lonely and troubled, the singer frequents the bar where people seem happier; perhaps to escape their own problems.
Through the bottom of a beer glass,
The singer is deeply immersed in this pattern of drinking and escapism.
from a table near the bar.
The singer has become a regular and probably quite well-known at this bar.
As my memory carefully retraces every footstep
that's brought me down this far.
The artist is reflecting on the poor choices (or lack thereof) that led them to this point and this pattern of behavior.
The distance from the bottle to the floor
gets closer every time I drink one more.
The more the artist drinks, the more perilously close they become to hitting rock bottom.
Tonight I'll get so blind that I can't sing
Blind with an angel with broken wings
The singer plans to drink until they can't even perform the one thing that brings them joy, and perhaps metaphorically there is something angelic (innocent or pure) about the state of drunkenness that they seek.
Every time I think of all the places
where trouble seemed to find me and knock me to the ground,
The singer is haunted by a pattern of difficult experiences and challenges that have been thrown their way.
darkness fell and covered all around me
giving life to the shadow that I'm bound.
Perhaps the artist feels oppressed by their circumstances and is almost like a prisoner of their situation.
but the loneliness reminds me of who I am come closing time.
At the end of the night, the artist is forced to confront the emptiness and isolation they feel in their life.
So as the neon lights, and laughter fades behind me,
to the strains of A Satisfied Mind...
The artist is left to reflect on the brief but fleeting sense of happiness and fulfillment they receive from their drinking at the bar, as they leave for the night.
The distance from the bottle to the floor
gets closer every time I drink one more.
Tonight I'll get so blind that I can't sing
Blind with an angel with broken wings.
The chorus is repeated several times throughout the song, conveying again the idea that the singer is spiraling out of control and is seeking a perhaps illusory escape through drinking, even as they become increasingly lost and isolated.
Contributed by Grace A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
viljar torgersen
Thanks for the upload great band..
Arne Sandal
The distance from bootle to the floor get closer ewerytime i drink one more..Yes i tried that a couple of times.Good band nice music
PhivePhivoSteve
@TheOldrecordclub - Not much of a video Carl, but hey it's all about the song, the playiers and the vocal. All happy this weekend I think, Villa, Red Devils and Foxes all won. Cheers Steve :-)
PhivePhivoSteve
@BABSINUK - Agree Barbara, thank you :-)