“Go Back (You’re Going The Wrong Way)”, from Strawberry Alarm Clock’s 1968 LP Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow, is perhaps the silliest song the band ever released, musically speaking. Mostly in 3/4 time, with slight, circus-like organ flutters emphasizing the goofiness of the waltz, the track tells a simplistic tale that (as usual) takes an unexpected and unexplained dark turn.
Without context or background, the well-arranged vocals tell of a land where people don’t know “how to go about making loooove”. One couple figured it out, everyone caught on, and they all became “experts at love”. So far so good, if you can overlook the inconsequential feel of the whole thing.
Then there comes a few bars in 4/4 time, and when the song returns to 3/4, the lyrics are suddenly, and unaccountably, talking of “clouds in the sky” (of the dark, foreboding variety, that is). The people are no better off than they were when they started.
Whence came these clouds? What is the nature of the trouble in these people’s lives? Who knows. By way of vague explanation, the lyrics of “Go Back (You’re Going The Wrong Way)” explain that, having let love take over their lives, the ‘populace’ saw it grow too big and become a problem. None of this is really explained.
Applying the lesson of the song to the modern world, the singers lament that
“The same thing is happening now
And still you will wonder how
Love can destroy what you love”
For a band with such a sunny pop reputation, and within such an otherwise forgettable song, the sentiment is an odd one: be careful with that love stuff, y’all — too much is too much.
Quite what the band was going for here is elusive. But the duality of having the album’s happiest song collapse into a pessimistic outcome gives even this two minutes of merriment an intriguing dissonance. “Go Back (You’re Going The Wrong Way)” warrants further pondering.
“Go Back (You’re Going The Wrong Way)” appears on…
Wake Up… It’s Tomorrow (1968)
Cheerful and pleasant, not as dark as much of the rest of the album.