He left no time to regret
Kept his lips wet
With his same old safe bet
Me and my head high
And my tears dry
Get on without my guy
You went back to what you knew
So far removed from all that we went through
And I tread a troubled track
My odds are stacked
I'll go back to black

We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to
I go back to us

I love you much
It's not enough
You love blow, and I love puff
And life is like a pipe
And I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside

We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to
We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to

Black
Black
Black
Black
Black
Black
Black
I go back to
I go back to

We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to
We only said goodbye with words
I died a hundred times
You go back to her
And I go back to black



Lyrics submitted by Nyra

Track duration: 04:00

"Back to Black" as written by Amy/ronson Winehouse

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Back To Black song meanings
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88 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I’m not an all out obsessed Amy fan, but I do like this track, and never really focused on deep meaning or heard the lyrics 100% correctly. Song’s can mean different things to different listeners..

    ‘You love blow, and I love puff’
    I took this line at face value, two different drugs, as simple as..

    Here’s one lyric I heard wrong:
    ‘And life is like a pie’
    ‘And I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside’
    I had a vision, a huge pie, and a penny rolling inside up and the pastry walls, thus the pie is empty. Hehe..

    As to the ‘Back to Black’ reference. I simply took this as retreating mentally to a dark place, as the result of something to do with a partner.

    Having watched the music video, it takes place at funeral?
    Flag dobadogon May 15, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Very simple meaning.

    Her ex could not give up drugs "kept his lips wet with his same old safe bet". He goes back to "her" (drugs) and Amy goes back to "black" (drugs) as well.

    She kept trying to say "goodbye" to drugs but he kept pulling her back in.
    Flag jjcckkmm10on April 13, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Black Tar Heroin, at least in the U.S. is the most common
    Flag chrischicoon October 07, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:Thinking with all her relapses on crack
    Flag chrischicoon October 07, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:Everyone is wrong... When she says she is going back to black, she means having nothing and starting over (ie back to the black board, THUS THE ALBUM ART)
    Flag SafiKhanon September 04, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Link(s):Pretty obvious what Back to Black means. She wrote such wonderfully Frank lyrics.
    I love her wonderful musical legacy, not ashamed to say that I'm over 60, yet she is the best I've heard for a long time, she is original, yet echoes music from before I was born.
    Just a thought: have you ever considered where Amy got her Look?

    capejeer.com/panel/…
    Flag Flamencoprofon January 25, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:This is a very emotional song especially for those who can relate. Very well written and I just love it! It's about falling in love with someone and being together and then them going back to their girlfriend and just leaving everything you've been through. It's a sad song about losing someone and going back to that dark place you were in before you got them. In my opinion it could be that person was pining for them for a while and was in a very bad place in her life, so now that they've left she goes back to that heartache she was in before. Wanting what she can't have. She thought she got it but then they left her for someone else.

    I might interpret this a little differently but that's ok.

    The chorus in my opinion is very interesting.

    "We only said goodbye with words
    I died a hundred times
    You go back to her
    And I go back to.....

    I go back to us"

    The line "We only said goodbye with WORDS" hmmm... they only said goodbye with words? so what I think is they broke it off verbally, but physically they were still together. "I died a hundred times" that's pretty obvious. It was painful, very very painful for her to stop their relationship because she loved him. So he goes back to her. her is probably someone he's been with before or they have feelings for each other. I think it hurts her how easy it is for him to just walk away from what they had, especially when he had told her how much he loved her before, and now he's jumping at his opportunity to get back with this girl he obviously loves - more than her. "You went back to what you knew
    So far removed from all that we went through."

    Ok so the last line of this chorus "and I go back to us" OK so he goes back to her. and she goes back to "us"? basically this shows that she feels used. He goes back to his girl and she goes back to him, because she loves him and he knows he's playing her (or not able to commit or whatever) but she's so in love she' letting him have his girl and her at the same time. BACK TO BLACK. black is the emotional state she's in.
    That's what I gather anyway. well i can relate to it better like that way anyway, so whatever works. :) love this song yeah :)
    Flagged rainbow777on November 30, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I can play this song on the piano and i love to play...the song has such great lyrics
    Flag keridogon October 21, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The song is about her relationship with Blake and her relapse. Its clear in the lyrics but for those of you who still are having trouble seeing it. Read these recent comments from her dad.

    "I can't sit down and listen to her music," he said. "I couldn't ever listen to 'Back to Black' anyway because it reminded me of dark times."

    He said he struggles to listen to her music, especially her critically acclaimed, multiplatinum album "Back to Black," which won five Grammy Awards and is the U.K.'s best-selling album of the 21st century. It featured songs about Amy's addiction and relationship with ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil.
    Flag ThePhoenixon September 15, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:"I love you much
    It's not enough
    You love blow and I love puff
    And life is like a pipe
    And I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside"

    I think this bit is referring to how, when she first got together with Blake, she wasn't as aware or experienced with drugs, but he was. He loved 'blow' (coke) which is a lot harder than 'puff' (weed). Compared to him, she was a lot more naïve and he should have taken care of her.
    I think she then goes on to say 'Life is like a pipe' referring to a crack 'pipe', as she may feel this is the only metaphor he will understand, as drugs was at the core of their relationship, and a huge part of his life: it was all he knew. She says this to show how, life is like a 'pipe', and she's just a small vulnerable thing trying to make her way through.
    I think she's saying how he's put her through so much, and introduced her into so much that she can't believe he's turned away now and left her on her own. Seeing as she's so small and unfamiliar to all this stuff without him.

    I'm so upset she's gone.
    She was effortlessly talented.
    And I couldn't wait to hear what she would've come up with next.
    It's a true tragedy.
    Flag ChloeHowellson August 04, 2011   Link

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