“Hello, hello – is anybody home?”
I’m not sure anyone is today. I feel absolutely shattered.
You see, I went to Edinburgh yesterday to see my second favourite band in the entire universe. It was a long way to go for what was barely a 30 minute set, but it had been so long since I saw them play, I was just happy to be there and see them. Even one song would have done!
And Steve and Andy are always so lovely. Greet me warmly and let me chat with them and make me feel like they are as happy to see me as I am to see them. Anyway, more on that in another post to come.
It was a tiring day anyway. Lots of aimless walking and a longer journey home than anticipated. So today I feel completely deflated and drained.
When my spirits are low, a song like Light Travels is just the antidote to that feeling. The matter-of-fact lyrics are sometimes what is really needed. “Things get better after things get worse.” IE: Buck up kid, it won’t always be this bad!
And before that “hello, hello – is anybody home?” line there is “But there’s no need to worry” – and I have only taken in the true context of the next line! I used to think that line a bit rude, you know? Because people say that to someone who is “zoned out” – distracted and deep in their own thoughts and not really paying attention to what is going on around them. Say, if you’re talking to someone and are expecting a response from them and one isn’t forthcoming, you’d usually say “HELLLLO! Is anyone home? Wakey, wakey!” and wave a hand in front of them to try and coax them out of their perceived reverie.
But I have just realised that what could be meant by it is (because of the line before being “but there’s no need to worry”) – DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID!? DID YOU JUST TAKE THAT IN!?
THERE’S NO NEED TO WORRY! So stop.
It’s uplifting because it’s a song reassuring you that you are not alone. We all have our ups and downs and the world still keeps turning. Light just keeps on traveling through the universe.
My favourite lines in the song are “words unravel out of all of us / they arise / they refrain”. I understand why Jim and Charlie wanted this Sean Kelly track – it’s beautiful.
And for the Acoustic album, they turned it into something even more beautiful again. It was a bonus track on the Acoustic vinyl album – both it and Speed Your Love To Me were, for me, (along with the cover of Richard Hawley’s Long Black Train) the standouts of the whole Acoustic album.
If you today, like me, feel the need to be uplifted and reassured…listen to Light Travels and feel yourself somewhat healed.