Lyrics to
Backwater

This version of Backwater was released by Status Quo in 1974.

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Down at Backwater junction rolling down the line
In the dark early morning I heard the one-forty-nine
I was walking down the highway, needed somewhere to go
A lady laid beside me and she invited me home
She led me cold, tired and hungry down the backwater road

In a house on the corner looking over the track
I woke up with a fever and a pain in my back
She was lying there beside me, my fever started to grow
Had a funny feeling but the lady said no
My lover needs a doctor down the Backwater Road

Whatcha lookin’ for, whatcha lookin’ for
Lady do you know what cha’ lookin’ for
Was I wrong to play along?
Lady was I right or lady was I wrong?

Backwater doctor, you’ve got me breathing in time
It’s ten-thirty in the morning and I’m feeling alright
I went back to my lady but I wasn’t to know
Lady left this morning and she’s not coming home
I was cold when she left me down the Backwater Road

I am just a poor man, got nowhere to go
All my leaves have fallen, left me all alone
If I was a rich man, if I was a king
I would give you all I have, give you everything
If you’d just take me, just take me now
If you’d just take me

Never seen my daddy, died when I was two
Mama did the best she could, taught me all she knew
Said that love was everything, tears came to her eyes
Never knew the meaning, now I realise
Love is all you need, all you need now
If you just take me

I’m trying hard to get you, I’m not the only one
Never had a big car, but I’m not on the run
If love has got a meaning see it in my eyes
If you see the beginning, then you’d realise
Love is all you need, all you need now
If you just take me
Just take me
Just take me now
Won’t you just take me

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Status Quo has released many songs over the years besides Backwater. Status Quo released songs from 1968 to 2007 spanning across albums like Picturesque Matchstickable Messages From The Status Quo, Spare Parts, Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon, Dog Of Two Head, Piledriver, Hello!, Quo, On The Level, Blue For You, Rockin' All Over The World, If You Can't Stand The Heat, Whatever You Want, Just Supposin', Never Too Late, 1+9+8+2, Back To Back, In The Army Now, Ain't Complaining, Perfect Remedy, Rock 'Til You Drop, Thirsty Work, Don't Stop, Under The Influence, Famous In The Last Century, Heavy Traffic, The Party Ain't Over Yet, and In Search Of The Fourth Chord. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Status Quo.

If you're a fan of popular 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1974 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Backwater by Status Quo

When you decide to study the lyrics to Backwater, you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1974 song by Status Quo. Some of the lyrics to Backwater have clear meanings and some contain metaphorical references. Like most songs, only Status Quo and their collaborators know the full story behind any of the their songs.

You can understand the lyrics to Backwater if you take apart the structure of the words. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Backwater" means the words set to the music of Backwater, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Status Quo. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Backwater and the lyrics to Backwater are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Status Quo who came here looking just for the lyrics to Backwater, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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