Back and Forth Lyrics

[Verse 1]
There’s a kind of music that reminds me of you
It’s all clear expensive drinks and shiny shirts
And the click of heels as they descend from the taxi

Like the first foot on the moon, oh, and it glows with ache
And if it hits me right, oh, it’s almost too much to take

And it’s got right angle laser razor thin lines
That curve and swerve like perfect sines
As we dress to the nines in an attempt to leave it all behind
In a search of the moment between the seconds where
Everything is just fine
That silver thread embedded deep within our spines

And I used to be kind of weird about this
A fear of dependence on a guilty gilt-edged
Hedged transcendence that makes us liars
And tense the fear of looking down and seeing
That nothing really suspends us

But it was never just another Saturday night
Not with you in attendance

[Chorus]
So put your hands in the air
And wave them like you just don’t care
It’s on a whim; it’s on a dare
To shrug away what we can’t bear
And we’re going back and forth and back and forth
And back and forth and back
We’re going back and forth and back and forth
And back and forth and back

[Verse 2]
So it’s a deep blue see-through membrane that protects us
It connects us, a pulsing cellophane
Party-train skein that helps us and
Envelopes and keeps us locked inside
Forever and ever along for the ride

And we’re moving through a phosphorescent gel
A semi-solid self-lit ocean
and it’s a funny notion, isn’t it?
Yeah, but I’m kinda digging it
And it’s rigged and isn’t nearly so big
And it speaks only of its own perpetual near miss
Like the uncertain memory of a stranger’s mistaken kiss

As faces slide by in glowing shadows
Like snowbound ghosts that go up and down
In epileptic shivers and negative radioactive slivers
In a landscape of endless dull glitter
And a taste in my mouth so sweet, yet so bitter
We exhaust ourselves trying to get there

[Chorus]
Somebody scream, all right
We’ll try to fill the echoless night
So fasten up and hold tight
We can’t give up without a fight
And we’re going back and forth and back and forth
And back and forth and back
We’re going back and forth and back and forth
And back and forth and back

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About

Genius Annotation

Travis Morrison has said that the verse structure of this song was based off of “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” by Bob Dylan

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

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