Lyrics
Meaningful Travel Songs for Your Next Journey
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Lyrics. For me, a great song is all about meaningful lyrics. The melody is important, but I’ve gotta love the lyrics to really love a song. The lyrics should touch me, even if the melody isn’t that great.
As I wrote in the blog post about the blog and myself, most of my playlist is still stuck in the 90’s and 2000s, but this list also includes songs from later periods.
Travel songs are the perfect songs for solo trips. When I travel solo, and I want to be with myself, I put music in my headphones and drift. Every now and then comes a song that catches me, which makes me think, that just fits in the moment. Travel songs are also the songs that talk about journeys, and make me want to take a backpack and go on another adventure.
So I decided to write you an updated travel songs post, where I will briefly write about some of the travel songs you owe to yourself for your next trip. In each song I write a few words about the meaning of the song and lyrics for me, or the story behind the song, and also let you feel a few words from the song that particularly touched me.
Did you connect to one of the songs? Did you get to know a new song you liked? Did i make you learn something new? Do you have more travel songs to offer? Please write to me in the comments at the bottom of the post.
Now sit down, take a few minutes, and open your ears.
I Love The Unknown
Band: Clem Snide
A few words about the song: I know that for most people have difficulty with uncertainty, and it is clear that there are situations in life that it is difficult not to know what will happen, but on trips and journeys, all the magic lies precisely in this unknown. By having no idea who I will meet, and where I will be, and how I will be, and what i will experience. Get on a bus, and get off at the place with the most allure. That’s what this song is about.
A few words from the song:
The doctor asked him what he was afraid of
Just what was he running from?
And he said, “It’s not a fear of success, but of closeness
But of going through life feeling numb “
That’s why I love the unknown …
Life’s for the living
Singer: Passenger
A few words about the song: to live life to the fullest, as far as possible. Right now, and not wait to get your dreams out of storage after another 30 years, after the debts are paid and the children leave home. Want to smile for the living, and live as long as I’m alive.
A few words from the song:
Because I’m sick of this town, this blind man’s forage
They take your dreams down and stick them in storage
You can have them back when you’ve paid off
Your mortgage and loans
Oh hell with this place, I’ll go it my own way
I’ll stick out my thumb and I trudge down the highway
Someday someone must be going my way home
Till then I’ll make my bed from a disused car
With a mattress of leaves and a blanket of stars
And I’ll stitch the words into my heart with a needle and thread
Don’t cry for the lost
Smile for the living
Get what you need and give what you give
You know life’s for the living so live it
Or you’re better off dead
Motorcycle Drive by
Band: Third Eye Blind
A few words about the song: This is a 90’s band that most 90’s kids remember as a One Hit Wonder with that catchy song with the Tu Tu Tu Tu Tu at the beginning called Semi Charmed-Life. But this song is one of the lesser-known songs and also one of the most underrated songs that I know. It’s words are so sincere and sensitive. About a guy who realizes that the girl he loves will never be his, and that he has never felt so alone, but never felt so alive. The kind of feeling that you get sometimes while traveling solo. The song got it’s title because after he got to her place, and realized she would no longer be with him, he just found himself wandering alone on the motorcycle in town.
A few words from the song:
There are things I would like to do,
that you don’t believe in
I would like to build something
But you’ll never see it happen
And there’s this burning, like there’s always been
I’ve never been so alone, and I’ve
Never been so alive
I’ve Never Been to Me
Band: Charlene
A few words about the song: There’s a reason you don’t know any more songs by the singer Charlene. It was her only hit. But what a hit. It touches a sensitive spot for many travelers. It talks about those who travel to escape something, and not out of true love for travel. Those who travel all over the world, but never dared to meet themselves. If you feel the same, than I recommend what’s broken in your life, and then take a backpack and hit the road.
A few words from the song:
Ooh I’ve been to Georgia and California, oh, anywhere I could run
Took the hand of a preacher man and we made love in the sun
But I ran out of places and friendly faces because I had to be free
I’ve been to paradise, but I’ve never been to me
Hey, you know what paradise is? It’s a lie, a fantasy we create about
People and places as we’d like them to be but you know what truth is?
It’s that little baby you’re holding, and it’s that man you fought with
This morning, the same one you’re going to make love with tonight
That’s truth, that’s love
Runaway Train
Band: Soul Asylum
A few words about the song:
The immediate interpretation of this song is wanting escape it all, but the truth is that it is about depression, about a feeling of being stuck in life, neither here nor there. The director of the Video, however, took it elsewhere.
For him the song was about kids who ran away from home and never came back, and the band accepted the interprataion. Therefore, the Video featured photographs and names of missing children in the style of a public service announcement. At the end of the video, lead singer Dave Pirner appeared and said, “If you’ve seen one of these kids, or you are one of them, please call this number”. The Video was edited so that in each country where it was screened, children from that country were featured in the Video. It turns out that thanks to the Video, several families have reunited.
And what does this song mean to me?
For me it talks about one of my motives for going on solo trips – to escape, and yes, sometimes even fantasize about escaping and not coming back. But I know that being in a place that this is my motivation for travling, is not a good place, and I try not to be there.
That’s why I love the last sentence in the song – runaway but it always seems the same. If I travel to escape, I will not really find happiness. It will always be the same. Wrong way on a one-way track.
Happiness should be found in the life we build for ourselves in our daily routine, and travel should be motivated by an adventurous instinct, to explore, discover, get to know new people and cultures, and experience new experiences.
A few words from the song:
Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one-way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I’m neither here nor there
Runaway train never coming back
Runaway train tearing up the track
Runaway train burning in my veins
I run away but it always seems the same
Loving you, Leaving you
Singer: Daphne Armoni
A few words about the song: This is a hebrew song but it’s still worth noting. this song was written by Shalom Hanoch to his girlfrined, the singer, Daphne Armoni. Shalom imagines in this song how she feels in their relationship and writes it in her name. I’m always so astonished with the sensitivity he had to have to write such a song and understand in this way the inner state of his loved one. Besides that, the song is all about self-fulfillment, being alone, knowing one’s self … and that’s exactly what this blog is about.
A few words from the song:
At night’s end, you’re still asleep
So peaceful it is unbelievable
On your way, I went with you from such a young age,
I Want to explain, I want you to understand
There’s nothing wrong with you, it’s all in me …
When you are near me, holding my hands
It holds me back, I want to be alone …
I Want to dance, I want to sing
Spread my wings, fly over the city
And return to my senses
Again lighting my soul
And alone, to know what about me
Save my own life …
Return To Innocence
Band: Enigma
A few words about the song: The truth is that the lyrics of this song are quite banal and clichéd, but they say clichés are usually true for a reason. I wouldn’t put the song on the list, but it just jumped at me on a playlist on the way to my first solo flight to Vilnius after I opened the blog, and got straight to my heart. The clip, by the way, is also cool, and is basically a reverse gear, which tells the story of an old man from the time of his death to his birth.
A few words from the song:
Don’t be afraid to be weak
Don’t be too proud to be strong
Just look into your friend my heart
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence
Traveling Alone
Singer: Passenger
A few words about the song: This song makes me remember all those who travel solo against their will. It was written about two people Passenger met on the go. You should listen to him tell the story because he’s a talented story-teller. So this time the video is not of the song itself, but of the story behind the song. You can find the song itself here.
A few words from the song:
Said far and wide from the Gold Coast.
Furthest I’ve ever known,
Oh and this just ain’t my home.
It was my wife’s idea, but no longer here.
She left me traveling alone.
Night Swimming
Band: REM
A few words about the song: Funny, but I heard this song for the first time in the immortal Beverly Hills 90210 series, and since then it has entered my heart, giving some exciting, romantic touch to a night swimming. I really want to do this sometime on one of my solo trips. For me, this song is not just about night swimming, but about old times that will never return. Yes, I’m nostalgic like that.
A few words from the song:
Night swimming deserves a quiet night
I’m not sure all these people understand
It’s not like years ago
The fear of getting caught
Or recklessness and water
They can’t see me naked
These things, they go away
Replaced by everyday
The Way
להקה: Fastball
כמה מילים על השיר: השיר הזה מספר את סיפורם האמיתי של לילה וריימונד הווארד. זוג מבוגר מטקסס, שנסע לפסטיבל לא רחוק מביתם, ולא חזר. הבסיסט של הלהקה קרא כתבה על הזוג הנעדר, והחליט להמציא סיפור רומנטי על מה שאולי בעצם קרה להם. גם לפני שידעתי את הסיפור מאחורי השיר, תמיד דמיינתי זוג שהחליט להשאיר הכל מאחור, לצאת לדרך, ולא לחזור. מעין פנטזיה שמחה-עצובה שכזו.
כמה מילים מתוך השיר:
You can see their shadows
Wandering off somewhere
They won’t make it home
But they really don’t care
They wanted the highway
They’re happy there today, today
November Rain
Band: Guns and Roses
A few words about the song: One of my favorite songs. It talks about a a break up, and it accompanied me the break ups I went through in my life, reminding me of old lovers. It also communicates solo trips of course because of Slash’s amazing solo in the middle of the song! Well, the solo is really amazing, but it’s more because of the part where It says everyone needs some time alone, that I really connect with. Did you know that the song is based on a short story and that the original version was 25 minutes?! But in the end, they edited the song and left “only” 8 minutes and 59 seconds.
A few words from the song:
Sometimes I need some time
On my own
Sometimes I need some time alone
Everybody needs some time
On their own
Don’t know you need some time alone
And when your fears subside
And shadows still remain, oh yeah
I know you can love me
When there’s no one left to blame
So never mind the darkness
We still can find a way
‘Cause nothin’ lasts forever
Even cold November rain
This is how it feels to be lonely (Punk Version)
Band: Carter USM (originally by Inspiral Carpets)
A few words about the song: The song talks about a violent relationship, and the feeling of loneliness within it, but I only discovered this recently. To me it just talks about loneliness, a feeling that every solo traveler has to deal with at times, which is not always a bad thing. I really like this punk, noisy, fast cover version.
A few words from the song:
Husband don’t know what he’s done
Kids don’t know what’s wrong with mum
She can’t say, they can’t see
Putting it down to another bad day
So this is how it feels to be lonely (feels to be lonely)
This is how it feels to be small (feels to be small)
This is how it feels when your word means nothing at all
Before it ends
Singer: Idan Raichel
A few words about the song: One more and last hebrew song. Probably the most popular song on the list (well, at least in Israel). I don’t think the words need any explaination, because it speaks for itself, and it’s also pretty clear how it connects to this blog and solo trips. I emebbeded a version where you can read the english translation.
A few words from the song:
To get up every morning
And to go out into the world
And to try everything before it all ends
To search from whence we came
And in the end always to return to the beginning
To find yet more beauty in everything
And to dance until overcome by exhaustion
Or love
That’s it for now. I plan to update this post from time to time with more travel songs. Feel free to write what song touched you and offer more songs that connect with your travels.
רוצים להיות מעודכנים על פוסטים חדשים ולקבל השראה וטיפים מיוחדים לטיולים שלכם?
כל מה שצריך לעשות זה להכניס כאן את האי-מייל שלכם (לא יותר מאי-מייל אחד כל 3 שבועות)
