He left no time to regret
Kept his dick 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, edited by tk2x, scorpio1644, Deborah66, hannahsoooo

Back to Black Lyrics as written by Mark Ronson Amy Winehouse

Lyrics © TuneCore Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Hipgnosis Songs Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Back To Black song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

102 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +11
    General Comment

    It about her ex blake (the name she had tattoed on her chest) who when they met was with another girl, they toyed with each other for a while and when he left the other girl they hooked up and fell in love, she even says that she would have" died for him or died with him" but then when she "fucked up" they broke it off (and she still loved him) he went back to his ex-girlfriend and she went spiraling out of control and felt helplesss she's said in interviews that she still loves him and he had said that he still oved her also and thinks they will eventually end up together.

    But yeah, fucking exes blow.

    Eggos=yumon April 03, 2007   Link
  • +8
    General Comment

    It's interesting how this song can go either way...you can see it from the POV of the girlfriend chastising her guy for going back to an ex or an affair...or you can see from the POV of the mistress chastising the guy for going back to his girlfriend/wife

    Nini927on March 23, 2007   Link
  • +7
    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.

    ChloeHowellson August 04, 2011   Link
  • +6
    General Comment

    i think this song is basically about a man's love for cocaine ('her') and her love for heroin ('black', as in black tar).

    "And I tread a troubled track, my arms are stacked I go back to black"

    i'm not sure what to make of this, but i think it's significant. her arms stacked...does this mean shooting up? stacked with tattoos to cover her track marks...? (has anyone noticed that when miss winehouse looked more healthy & voluptuous she had very few tattoos, and now that she looks so unhealthy and skinny she almost has full sleeves?)

    "you go back to her and i go back to black" her = cocaine, as already described

    so...not sure if this means the two drugs drove them apart, if his drug use brought her to her own demise with heroin, or what just my thoughts.

    o m f g its letion July 22, 2007   Link
  • +6
    General Comment

    I think "you love blow and i love puff" means more than "drug choice".

    Amy stated her ideas and their situation metaphorically with drug feelings.

    When he blows coke, he just wants to sex with some girl who is not a special girl, just a girl. But if you smoke-puff a joint, you feel deeper, you miss your lover even if he/she is with you.

    So it means; for he, sex is more important than love, but for amy, it's not. Amy is saying: "i want you and i love you so" with this metaphorical lyrics.

    The sound and the lyrics of the song have got melancholy. Amy writes songs more deeper than just directly drug references.

    Do you think, the only problem is their drug choices? I don't think so...

    wdmstson April 15, 2009   Link
  • +5
    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 :)

    rainbow777on November 30, 2011   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    Such a sad sad loss.

    whatdanielledidon July 23, 2011   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    My take on this is:

    In the first verse it is a man leaving her for another woman and not a coke habbit, now what i cant decide is whether "Black" represents a state of depression or whether "Black" represents Heroin, I always thought the line "I tread a troubled track, My odds are stacked" said "I tread a troubled track, My arms are stacked" i.e. injected/stacked full of Heroin.

    I think that later on when she says "I love you much, It's not enough, You love blow and I love puff" she means that they both love weed but thats not enough to keep them together.

    The line "And life is like a pipe, and I'm a tiny penny rolling up the walls inside" i am certain she means that no matter how many times a penny were to roll up the wall of a pipe it will never escape and will always fall back to where it started off!

    When you watch the video it is of her burying her heart because at the end it actually says "RIP Amy Winehouse's heart" so either way she obviously felt/feels dead inside!

    jscurry1984on May 15, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    amazingly well written

    mohawk1guyon March 11, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    these are not the right lyrics. the lyrics are as follows ---

    He left no time to regret - Kept his dick wet - With his same old safe bet Me & my head high - & my tears dry - Get on without my guy I tread a troubled track - My odds are stacked I 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..

    Us - I love you much - It's not enough - You love blow & I love puff & life - Is like a pipe - & i'm a tiny penny rollin' up the walls inside

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

    etc etc...the rest is right. love this song.

    loreleileeon March 20, 2007   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Album art
Page
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.