Right on the first appearance of Kevin Parkers synthesizer playing harmoniously with his guitar, it is heard exchanging repetitive tones introducing the central message of the song Feels like We Only Go Backwards, your ear drums are blasted by the drums drumming profusely till you sit back and absorb the reverting melodies. Three details that are most important when it comes to understanding the song is paying attention to the three instruments at hand. Secondly, the conversation between the chorus and the verses. Lastly, the synchronous relationship between the pitches in Parker’s voice and the beats. These three details relate directly to entail the stress and eagerness and emotion that revolves around the whole song since the character wants to move forward in life but reverts back to his love interest when they show him the slightest bit of attention. There’s also a cycle between all three details to mirror the cycle that the character suffers. So we as the listener can understand literally it feels like we only go backwards.

The three instruments at hand are the drum sets, guitars, and synthesizers. If you listen closely the notes repeat and overlap one another countless times to depict the conflict between past and current. The strands that occur is the chorus of the song that convey the characters’ complications with their self sabotage on going backwards. 

This strand is said

 “It feels like I only go backwards,baby

Every part of me says, “Go Ahead”

I got my hopes up again, oh no not again 

Feels like we only go backwards darling”

This is an inner dialogue that is occurring to help the character become more aware of their feelings. However, the following chorus is followed by two different verses that reveal different responses/ dialogues. With the verses and choruses  classifying the contrast, the binary oppositions in the song show the push and pull of the character’s indecisiveness. It’s almost like a conversation between himself is occuring in the song, introducing the different perspectives of the subject. It is when he says 

[Verse 1]

“I know that you think you sound silly

when you call my name 

But i hear it inside my head all day

When I realize i’m just holding on to the 

hope that maybe 

Your feelings don’t show”

This verse opposes him wanting to move on since the lyrics denote a fanatic devotion, such that this person only needs to say his name and he is distracted and delusioned by this for hours. He figures out the root of this cause is the unresolved hope he has for this person, constantly needing confirmation that this person too feels a way too.

[Verse 2]

“The seed of all this indecision isn’t me, oh no

Cause I decided long ago

But that’s the way it seems to go

When trying so hard to get to something real

it feels”

We see that in verse 2 he comes to the conclusion that after all of the dragging indecisiveness doesn’t stem from him, but rather the nature of a one sided relationship. He realizes that the more you try to love something more, it’ll push the person away, causing a tug of war effect. That’s why I think this binary is what I take to be the most significant for arriving at ideas about what the song communicates. The demonstration of this conversation between chorus and verses portrays the concept of going backwards. Overall, this is Kevin Parker’s friendly reminder to love lightly or else you’ll end up going backwards.