Turn Back The Clock by Johnny Hates Jazz - Songfacts

Turn Back The Clock

Album: Turn Back The Clock (1987)
Charted: 12
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This was the third single from the LP with the same title. It was the band's third single to hit the UK charts but unlike their previous two releases, it failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100. It's about a man looking back on his life with gratitude and saying that if he could go back in time, he wouldn't change anything that had happened to him, even though there were bad times as well as good.
  • Kim Wilde did background vocals on this single. She was briefly engaged to Johnny Hates Jazz drummer Calvin Hayes and was hot at the time having topped the US charts in 1987 with her cover of the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On." >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Mike - Santa Barbara, CA, for above 2
  • "Turn back the clock" is a phrase meaning to return to the past or to a previous way of doing things. Probably the best known song about wishing to go back in time to change something is R Kelly's single; "If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time," in which the narrator regrets letting a girl slip away as he did her wrong. ("If I could turn, turn back the hands of time. Then my darlin' you'd still be mine.")

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Real or Spinal Tap

Real or Spinal TapMusic Quiz

They sang about pink torpedoes and rocking you tonight tonight, but some real lyrics are just as ridiculous. See if you can tell which lyrics are real and which are Spinal Tap in this lyrics quiz.

Charlie Daniels

Charlie DanielsSongwriter Interviews

Charlie discusses the songs that made him a Southern Rock icon, and settles the Devil vs. Johnny argument once and for all.

Linda Perry

Linda PerrySongwriter Interviews

Songwriting Hall of Famer Linda Perry talks about her songs "What's Up" and "Beautiful," her songwriting process, and her move into film music.

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"

Dean Friedman - "Ariel"They're Playing My Song

Dean's saga began with "Ariel," a song about falling in love with a Jewish girl from New Jersey.

Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go's

Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go'sSongwriter Interviews

Charlotte was established in the LA punk scene when a freaky girl named Belinda approached her wearing a garbage bag.

Wang Chung Pick The Top Songs Of The '80s

Wang Chung Pick The Top Songs Of The '80sSongwriter Interviews

'80s music ambassadors Wang Chung pick their top tracks of the decade, explaining what makes each one so special.