Feel Like Goin' Home: a playlist for homesick ramblers...
You can always go home again...at least that's what they tell me. Almost five years ago my wife and I moved to Sydney Australia. Since then I have not yet once planted a foot on American soil. I had always intended to go back for a visit, but I never prioritised it. Actually, sometimes I was an actual victim of circumstance and other times I chose to travel other places.
When I got to Sydney I had six weeks to explore the city and then I started a full time MBA program. This full time MBA program (Macquarie Graduate School of Management) was an intense 12 month program. "Intense" is a good word for it. I had one five hour class Monday through Thursday and then the rest of my waking hours were spent on individual and group projects. Fortunately I could afford to turn it into a 15 month program to lighten some of the load.
Once I graduated, I started the job search straight away. In hindsight I should have gone back to visit my family after I graduated. I didn't because I had a contracting gig in the fire and wanted to strike while it was hot. Between the day I started the contract job and found full-time employment, seven months had passed.
There were roughly 12 days off in between each term in the MBA. My wife and I jumped on a few planes and did as many quick trips as we could in that time. We went to the Red Centre in Australia and visited Uluru, Hong Kong, The Great Ocean Road, The Great Barrier Reef (at a cool resort called Heron Island) and a few other shorter Aussie trips.
After the MBA we did more extensive traveling. We did a three week holiday in India. We went North to the Jaipur and Agra (sat at the Taj Mahal at sundown on xmas eve...cool), onto Mumbai to attend a friend's wedding and then down south to Hampi and Kerola for some R&R.
We also did a three week cruise throughout the Mediterranean, making stops in Italy, Greece, Turkey, Croatia and then back for a stay in Rome for a few nights (Rome was my hands-down fave spot).
Travel Pics:
When we got here to Sydney we thought we may be here three years max. That being said, we wanted to make sure we did as much travel "over here" as possible. Arguably we didn't even do that. I kept thinking that a trip home would be a missed opportunity for a trip to someplace I hadn't been.
Sadly, I have not seen my family that much due to this. They did come to Australia for a few weeks over xmas & new years in 2007. All up, I have seen them about 24 days since I left in 2005! Wow. Not good.
This year I committed myself to going home. I bought tickets to go back in August and September. In fact...I am supposed to be there right now...literally. I even bought tickets to go see the Allman Brothers (which I told you about here) and to the Red Sox. My family was excited as was I. Finally I was going home. Goin' home...
Not so fast. In between booking flights and making plans to go home, we ended up deciding to move to London. Long story short, we leave Sydney on the 5th September after nearly five years and move on to London to have a go of it there. Due to this I had to cancel my trip home. I am very close to being disowned.
So now I will have left home and moved to Australia and London without making it back to the States. That feels wrong. The good thing is that I will be much closer to home once in London. I plan on making a few "long weekend" trips back home as soon as possible to see the Fam and to wave the flag a bit.
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While I was prepping for my return trip to the States, I made a "Going Home" playlist. My intention was to burn it to CDs and distribute to my family and closest friends. That ain't gonna happen. Just the same, it is a good collection of tunes that need to be shared. I have attached the playlist for your listening pleasure.
I started out making it by creating a smart playlist in itunes to grab all songs with "home" in the title. Then I sifted through and found ones that hit the note for me. I also threw in three other non-"home" titles.
There were two songs that Grooveshark did not have in it's trove of tunes. I have included them here because the are important to this project.
- Charlie Rich - "Feel Like Goin' Home (Demo)": I started exploring Charlie Rich after I read about him in Peter Guralnick's excellent book, "Lost Highway". I went out and bought Charlie's "Essential" and gave it a whirl. When this song came on it stopped me cold. This was RAW and powerful. It fell un-produced and real and it made me want to create this playlist. I think I listened to it a dozen times in a row. There is a studio version on the album that is more lush. I like this one because it is a naked as the day it was written.
- Junior Walker - "Way Back Home": A bit of an obscure one; that is what makes it cool. It had such a different feel than the Charlie tune. This one is a celebration with a party going on in the background. Junior always gets me out of my chair and has me doing the chicken wing.
Here are some highlights of the set:
- "Goin' Home" - The Derek Trucks Band version and the Charley Patton original: Listen to the DTB first. This is off their phenom 2009 album, "Already Free". It is fresh and vibrant, but old timey just the same. Now go listen to Patton's version. It is gruff and raw, but has an optimistic feel to it. DBT captured that and brought it into 2009. I love 'em both...
- Chuck Berry - "Back int he U.S.A": when you think "U.S.A" music...Chuck Berry is near the top of a defining sound. This one made me feel like being picked up in a red Caddy at the airport and driving faaast back to New Hampshire.
- Gram Parsons - "Hickory Wind" (Byrds version): If I ever feel homesick I put this song on. I replace some locations (N.H. for S. Carolina) and tree types (elms for pines...Keene N.H. is the "Elm City") and sing myself back home.
- Bob Dylan - "I Was Young When I Left Home": It is a song/story about a young man who rambled far from home and didn't write, even though he knew he should. His homecoming was not fun one. It is a good reminded to get home and see my family.
Grab a cold one and a picture of some loved ones and kick back with the rest...
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