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.
What we're gonna do right here is go back
Way back, back into time
Yeah, yeah, yeah
(Donny Hathaway, Leena Horne)
(Miss Aretha, (The Real Thing) James Brown, Billie Holiday)
(Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Louis Armstrong)
(Minnie Riperton, Otis Redding, Etta James)
Back in the day, they used to say
Play that song, get it going, and the band played
And still today, you hear us say
Play that song all night long, Mr. DJ
Though times have change
It's still the same
We all need a minute to get away
So let it go, and feel the flow
If you've got soul, let the world know
We're gonna set the mood (set the mood off right)
Gonna go back to an old school groove (go back to an old school groove)
Gonna rewind to another time
When the originators, innovators were alive, yeah
Here, we say now
So break out the Marvin Gaye and Etta James
Your Lady Day, and Coltrane
Turn up your 45's, bring back to life
The sound and vibe of yesterday
Open your mind, enjoy the ride
Live out tonight, and grab that soul train
[Chorus]
Take it back, take it
Back in the day, back in the day
Oh baby
Back in the day, back in the day
Won't you take me back?
Back in the day, back in the day
I'll do it
Back in the day, back in the day
Oh yeah
Y'all remember back in the day, you dig
Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald
Yeah
Now 'Chain Of Fools' and 'Respect'
Was the anthem of a woman, Aretha said
'What's Going On,' 'Let's Get It On'
Such classic songs; don't forget them
Though times have changed
They still remain my inspiration everyday
So give it up for the ones
Who came before, opened up that door
We're gonna set the mood
(We're gonna set the mood)
Gonna go back to an old school groove
(Go back to an old school groove)
Gonna rewind to another time
(Rewind, another time)
When the originators, innovators were alive
So break out the Marvin Gaye and Etta James
Your Lady Day, and Coltrane
Turn up your 45's, bring back to life
The sound and vibe of yesterday
(The sound and vibe of yesterday)
Open your mind, enjoy the ride
Live out tonight, and grab that soul train
[Chorus]
So get up, relive it
Gotta let yourself flow
Give up your praise
Come celebrate
Just get up, get on it
Get yourself on the floor
Don't back away (don't back away)
Come celebrate (gonna celebrate, yeah)
So break out the Marvin Gaye and Etta James
Your Lady Day, and Coltrane
Turn up your 45's, bring back to life
The sound and vibe of yesterday
(The sound and vibe, all right, yeah)
Open your mind, enjoy the ride
Live out tonight, and grab that soul train
Takin' back in the day, day
Back in the day, back in the day
Back in the day, back in the day
Back in the day, back in the day
Back in the day, back in the day
Oh baby, I'll do it
Oh baby, oh yeah, yeah, whoa, whoa, yeah
Way back, back into time
Yeah, yeah, yeah
(Donny Hathaway, Leena Horne)
(Miss Aretha, (The Real Thing) James Brown, Billie Holiday)
(Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Louis Armstrong)
(Minnie Riperton, Otis Redding, Etta James)
Back in the day, they used to say
Play that song, get it going, and the band played
And still today, you hear us say
Play that song all night long, Mr. DJ
Though times have change
It's still the same
We all need a minute to get away
So let it go, and feel the flow
If you've got soul, let the world know
We're gonna set the mood (set the mood off right)
Gonna go back to an old school groove (go back to an old school groove)
Gonna rewind to another time
When the originators, innovators were alive, yeah
Here, we say now
So break out the Marvin Gaye and Etta James
Your Lady Day, and Coltrane
Turn up your 45's, bring back to life
The sound and vibe of yesterday
Open your mind, enjoy the ride
Live out tonight, and grab that soul train
[Chorus]
Take it back, take it
Back in the day, back in the day
Oh baby
Back in the day, back in the day
Won't you take me back?
Back in the day, back in the day
I'll do it
Back in the day, back in the day
Oh yeah
Y'all remember back in the day, you dig
Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald
Yeah
Now 'Chain Of Fools' and 'Respect'
Was the anthem of a woman, Aretha said
'What's Going On,' 'Let's Get It On'
Such classic songs; don't forget them
Though times have changed
They still remain my inspiration everyday
So give it up for the ones
Who came before, opened up that door
We're gonna set the mood
(We're gonna set the mood)
Gonna go back to an old school groove
(Go back to an old school groove)
Gonna rewind to another time
(Rewind, another time)
When the originators, innovators were alive
So break out the Marvin Gaye and Etta James
Your Lady Day, and Coltrane
Turn up your 45's, bring back to life
The sound and vibe of yesterday
(The sound and vibe of yesterday)
Open your mind, enjoy the ride
Live out tonight, and grab that soul train
[Chorus]
So get up, relive it
Gotta let yourself flow
Give up your praise
Come celebrate
Just get up, get on it
Get yourself on the floor
Don't back away (don't back away)
Come celebrate (gonna celebrate, yeah)
So break out the Marvin Gaye and Etta James
Your Lady Day, and Coltrane
Turn up your 45's, bring back to life
The sound and vibe of yesterday
(The sound and vibe, all right, yeah)
Open your mind, enjoy the ride
Live out tonight, and grab that soul train
Takin' back in the day, day
Back in the day, back in the day
Back in the day, back in the day
Back in the day, back in the day
Back in the day, back in the day
Oh baby, I'll do it
Oh baby, oh yeah, yeah, whoa, whoa, yeah
Lyrics submitted by Tangerine74
Back in the Day Lyrics as written by Don Costa Kara E. Dioguardi
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Great version of a great song,
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Actually I think is very clear.... You know Christina is expresing how many of us feel.. about music..I'm so glad that finally someone speak for all of us musicians.. we admire so much those artists, I mean Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Aretha Franklin...so Christina is saying how much she admires those artists and how we should bring back that EXcelent music from the past
At least someone in this generation can appreciate the good stuff. I'm so glad she's trying to get uncultured people back to the roots of real music.
she's not only honoring the singers she singing about but also...how the world has changed from generation to generation. & i LUV CHRISITNA AGUILERA
Christina is really something else.
I went and saw her in concert last week and she is even more amazing than i'd ever thought.
As for this song, I think she's just paying tribute to all the people who actually introduced music for her and all that.
It's pretty catchy too.
-hayles-