Music Review: The Pretenders "Back On The Chain Gang"
The Pretenders
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Back On The Chain Gang
Album: Learning To Crawl
Year: 1983
Chrissie Hynde finds herself thinking about a past in the contemplative "Back On The Chain Gang."
Mediative guitars open the single, setting a brooding tone. While going through some old boxes, she found a photo of her with an old boyfriend. For the entire evening, she could not stop thinking about her high school sweetheart. The past is over. The photo reflects a part of her life that is finished. However, no matter how much she want to go back, she can't.
In the chorus, she says that she's sentenced to being an adult.
In the second verse, she says that she couldn't stop the future from coming. Technology got updated. Pop culture shifted and the major news story broke within a hurry. It distracted her as she got involved in new hobbies. Before she knew it, she was older.
In the chorus, she sums up that all those caused her to forget about her youth.
In the bridge, she says that nature has set people to be young, grow up, and then die. However, she's curious as to what's happened to him. She knows the vindicativeness of nature will return to it sooner or later.
In the third verse, she says that being young and in love was the one time in her life she had fun. However, nature swiftly and cruelly took it away from her. She's alone now, wondering what could've happened if nature hadn't intervened.
The chorus is sung once to end the single.
Chrissie Hynde has accepted that she can't go back to the past. However, she wishes she could at least have one day of it back. Her adult life, which she had anticipated, is full of stress and worry. In her youth, she felt like she had everything. Now, it just feels like nothing.
"Back On The Chain Gang" states the subconcious things people think, but never say. Most people would say they would never return back to high school. But at least one day stands out that made it bearable. Most importantly, it's about hope. As a teenager, she thought she would be married to her high school boyfriend, be an executive, etc. However, they broke up and she get break the glass ceiling.
Hynde's unflinching, guarded vocals do not let on that she is cynical. She's simply neutral. Her neutrality only makes her yearning that much powerful.
The single is a great introduction to a band otherwise relegated to two songs on the radio, if that.
Thank you to Iconclast for the suggestion.
Album: Learning To Crawl
Year: 1983
Chrissie Hynde finds herself thinking about a past in the contemplative "Back On The Chain Gang."
Mediative guitars open the single, setting a brooding tone. While going through some old boxes, she found a photo of her with an old boyfriend. For the entire evening, she could not stop thinking about her high school sweetheart. The past is over. The photo reflects a part of her life that is finished. However, no matter how much she want to go back, she can't.
"I found a picture of you, oh oh oh oh/What hijacked my world that night/To a place in the past/We've been cast out of oh oh oh oh/Now we're back in the fight."
In the chorus, she says that she's sentenced to being an adult.
"We're back on the train/Oh, back on the chain gang."
In the second verse, she says that she couldn't stop the future from coming. Technology got updated. Pop culture shifted and the major news story broke within a hurry. It distracted her as she got involved in new hobbies. Before she knew it, she was older.
"A circumstance beyond our control, oh oh oh oh/The phone, the tv and the news of the world/Got in the house like a pigeon from hell, oh oh oh oh/Threw sand in our eyes and descended like flies."
In the chorus, she sums up that all those caused her to forget about her youth.
"
Put us back on the train/Oh, back on the chain gang."
In the bridge, she says that nature has set people to be young, grow up, and then die. However, she's curious as to what's happened to him. She knows the vindicativeness of nature will return to it sooner or later.
"The powers that be/That force us to live like we do/Bring me to my knees/
When I see what they've done to you/But I'll die as I stand here today/Knowing that deep in my heart/
They'll fall to ruin one day/For making us part."
In the third verse, she says that being young and in love was the one time in her life she had fun. However, nature swiftly and cruelly took it away from her. She's alone now, wondering what could've happened if nature hadn't intervened.
"I found a picture of you, oh oh oh oh/Those were the happiest days of my life/Like a break in the battle was your part, oh oh oh oh/In the wretched life of a lonely heart."
The chorus is sung once to end the single.
Chrissie Hynde has accepted that she can't go back to the past. However, she wishes she could at least have one day of it back. Her adult life, which she had anticipated, is full of stress and worry. In her youth, she felt like she had everything. Now, it just feels like nothing.
"Back On The Chain Gang" states the subconcious things people think, but never say. Most people would say they would never return back to high school. But at least one day stands out that made it bearable. Most importantly, it's about hope. As a teenager, she thought she would be married to her high school boyfriend, be an executive, etc. However, they broke up and she get break the glass ceiling.
Hynde's unflinching, guarded vocals do not let on that she is cynical. She's simply neutral. Her neutrality only makes her yearning that much powerful.
The single is a great introduction to a band otherwise relegated to two songs on the radio, if that.
Thank you to Iconclast for the suggestion.
