Backlash Blues

The speaker addresses “Mr. Backlash” as a personification of racist opposition and unfair treatment. The lyrics describe economic hardship, unequal schools and housing, and the fear of a son being sent to war. The mood begins with anger and accusation, then shifts toward confidence: the speaker says she will leave this injustice behind, while the person responsible will be left with the blues.

“Second class” refers not just to lower-quality homes and schools, but to being treated as less worthy. The repeated phrase “backlash blues” turns a political reaction against equality into a kind of sadness or consequence: the speaker predicts that the opponent, not she, will suffer. The image of a “big and bright and round” world suggests that people of many skin colors share a wider world beyond the narrow prejudice she confronts.

The ending sounds defiant, but it does not promise that the problems will quickly disappear. “I’m gonna leave you” might mean rejecting the backlash emotionally, politically, or in practice; the lyrics do not specify exactly how. The speaker’s certainty that the other side will “have the blues” can be heard as a hopeful reversal of power, as well as a sharp warning that injustice has consequences.