British indie rock band - formed in Brighton, England, United Kingdom in 20… Read Full Bio ↴British indie rock band - formed in Brighton, England, United Kingdom in 2004. The band currently consists of Luke Pritchard (vocals, guitar), Hugh Harris (guitar), and Alexis Nunez (drums). They have released five studio albums; their 2006 debut Inside In/Inside Out peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart, and their 2008 follow up Konk reached number one. The Junk Of The Heart (Happy) Songfacts reports that Pritchard found himself writing lyrics containing a lot of emotional drama for their third album and the phrase ‘junk of the heart’ kept coming back to him. Junk Of The Heart was released September 12, 2011. The Kooks released two more albums: Listen (2014), and Let's Go Sunshine (2018), which both peaked within the top 20.

The Kooks formed at the Brighton Institute of Modern Music, where they were all students. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Luke Pritchard, got bassist Max Rafferty involved in a college project, which formed the base of the band. After getting lead guitarist Hugh Harris and drummer Paul Garred involved, they took their name from the song Kooks on the 1971 David Bowie album Hunky Dory. When they tried to trademark the name, they found that in the late/mid 1990s a Swedish band by the same name released an album in Sweden called Too Much is Not Enough.

The Kooks released a debut EP and played gigs around Brighton, where they were based at the time. They were signed to Virgin Records.

2. Swedish indie rock/alternative band - It consisted of members Henrik Berglund, Leo Dahlin, Michael Lohse and Josef Zackrisson, and was active between 1998 and the early 2000's. Micke Lohse and Henrik Berglund are currently members of the band Atomic Swing.

Put Your Back To My Face
The Kooks Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Put your back to my face
No love to give but I want to
And get on my high horse babe
Let me pawn your heart
Doesn't have to be a real thing
I'd settle just for a touch of your skin

Baby blue let me please touch you

Another person, another wave
Another point of view babe
Am I too good for you
Oh now you're baby blue?

Put your back to my face
No love to give but I want to

Overall Meaning

The Kooks’ song Put Your Back to My Face is a love song where the singer expresses their yearning for someone. “Put your back to my face” is a unique request because usually, people prefer to face someone when in close proximity. But in this context, the singer portrays a sense of wanting to hide his/her emotions from the other person, hence asking them to put their back to their face. The phrase “No love to give but I want to” is indicative of the desire of the singer to be with the person, even though they may not be ready for or capable of love.

The following lyrics “And get on my high horse babe, Let me pawn your heart, doesn't have to be a real thing, I’d settle just for a touch of your skin” are interesting as they portray a level of vulnerability that the singer has in his/her desire to be with this person. The singer wants to feel the skin of the other person, and it’s not necessarily about love, but a sense of connection. The verse “Baby blue let me please touch you, Another person, another wave, Another point of view babe, Am I too good for you, Oh now you’re baby blue?” further reinforces the sense of wanting to connect with someone, and even though the singer might be hesitant to show their love, they still express their desire to be with this person.

Overall, Put Your Back to My Face is a song about not fully understanding and embracing one's feelings towards a person they want to be with. The lyrics portray a sense of vulnerability and hesitancy about expressing love, but the desire to connect with someone overrides these emotions.

Line by Line Meaning

Put your back to my face
Turn around and face away from me, so that I can hold you from behind.

No love to give but I want to
I don't have love to offer, but I still desire to be close to you.

And get on my high horse babe
I feel confident and superior and I want to act as if I'm in control in this situation.

Let me pawn your heart
Allow me to take control of your heart and emotions, to use them for my own benefit.

Doesn't have to be a real thing
This doesn't have to be a genuine or authentic relationship or love, it can just be a temporary fix or a physical connection.

I'd settle just for a touch of your skin
I only need a simple physical connection with you, like a touch, to feel satisfied and momentarily fulfilled.

Baby blue let me please touch you
Addressing a person by their clothing color, asking for permission to touch them in a sexual manner.

Another person, another wave
Each person and experience is unique and fleeting, just like a wave in the ocean.

Another point of view babe
I want to experience things from your perspective and see what you see, to broaden my own worldview.

Am I too good for you
Questioning if I am too desirable or accomplished for you to be with.

Oh now you're baby blue?
Surprised or disappointed that the person I'm interested in is not as impressive or exciting as I had hoped.

Contributed by Kayla C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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