Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: folk
Song Meaning of “Want It Back” by Amanda Palmer
“Want It Back” is a melancholic yet optimistic song by Amanda Palmer that speaks both of personal loss and the human desire to return to innocence and innocence lost. It discusses the pain and confusion of growing up and the longing for a simpler time in our lives, when things were more carefree and we were much younger. The song touches on the struggle to accept the past cannot be changed and highlights the need to still embrace those good memories.
Lyrics like “The good times, we didn’t know when we had them” hint at the suddenness of childhood ending, and how one can only appreciate happy moments in hindsight. As life continues, however, the song reflects on the inescapable nature of change with the lines “Once it’s gone, you never Can hold what is lost in your hand”.
In this song, Amanda Palmer captures the sentiment of the love one has for a past life as well as an understanding that it is okay to ask for more. It is an emotional journey of the heart, and a tribute to self-reflection. It wants you to look outward as well as inward and realize that life can present us with unexpected opportunities and joy. “Want It Back” is ultimately a call to learn to appreciate and live in the present.