Robyn Hitchcock is commonly referred to by critics as a surrealist, and that’s certainly the notion filmmaker Jonathan Demme puts forward in his 1998 Hitchcock performance film, Storefront Hitchcock. Sometimes that seems accurate, but there are also songs/albums/stretches of his career when the elliptical nature of his songwriting feels like a dodge. Instead of saying something, he seems to dish up three minutes of word soup in hope that it speaks to someone. On Black Snake Diamond Role and his albums with a band, the music hints at meaning, or if not meaning, tone. The held “Alllll abooooarddd” of “Brenda’s Iron Sledge,” for instance, suggests something out of control, a sensation underscored by the song’s signature riff set against the stomping bass.

Black Snake Diamond Role is the starting place in the five-disc I Wanna Go Backwards, a selective solo career retrospective that presents three released albums and two discs of unreleased tracks. From 1981’s Black Snake Diamond Role, he moves to 1984’s I Often Dream of Trains and 1990’s Eye, seemingly retreating from bands, rock ’n’ roll and electricity. That movement puts a progressively heavy burden on the lyrics, and if there’s any humor present, it’s as inscrutable as the lyrics. The unreleased material seems particularly so, as if Eye was somehow too sunny for these songs.

Fortunately, Hitchcock has never lost his way with a melody, so the songs are sweet and catchy, no matter the lyric. Obviously he’s pursuing his muse, albeit in an increasingly private direction, and it’s one that doesn’t require additional musicians. It does, however, need listeners with patience for tuneful, slightly macabre whimsy and the willingness to see significance in places where nothing inherently exists.