Although I haven't lived there for 13 years, I still say I'm 'going home' whenever I make a trip back to my parent's farm just outside of Corryong, Victoria. This song is essentially about facing up to the fact that it can't stay that way forever.
lyrics
I'm back on the old Hume Highway on my way home. The late afternoon sunlight's got me chasing shadows that stretch across land that could do with some rain - an old habit that brings a smile to my face. Forever observant of seasonal change, but what good it does me I can't say...
Half an hour out of the city and I'm content. I can see the Rooster Tree in the distance. Three hours in and the scenery changes, and my heart soars at the sight of the ranges, swells as wide and deep as the Weir, but with it there's always the fear that one day I'll have to let this go, and then where will I call home? Caught between love for the place I grew up, and the stories still left to be told.
Such a mix of conflicting emotions when I go home. Each bend in the road can bring either joy or sorrow. Turning into that long, dusty drive, back to the house where I've spent most my life, they're waiting outside for their son to arrive, and gather me into the warmth inside.
I think I'm wasting time worrying about when these moments will end, instead of just enjoying the time that I have left to spend.
So the next time I'm on the highway on my way home, I'll try to stay on course instead of chasing my shadow. But it's easy to say that when I'm not nearby - harder to accept from under Elliot's eye, where the view across the valley makes me want to cry. I'm not so sure that I can just let this go. Where will I call home?
credits
from Demos,
released April 16, 2015
Written by Brendan Lloyd
Copyright 2014
The Oakland singer's latest album imagines the power struggle between man and nature as a slow, steady tempest of dark folk. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 20, 2019