Currently, the group comprises singer and harmonica player John Popper, guitarist Chan Kinchla, drummer Brendan Hill, bassist Tad Kinchla and keyboardist Ben Wilson. Tad Kinchla and Ben Wilson joined the band following the death of original bassist Bobby Sheehan in 1999.
While Blues Traveler is best known among fans for their improvisational live shows, the general public is most familiar with the group from their Top 40 singles "Run-Around" and "Hook". They gained mainstream popularity after their fourth studio album four, released in 1994. Sheehan's death and Popper's struggle with obesity put a damper on the group's success, and A&M dropped the band in 2002.
Forever Owed
Blues Traveler Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the mountain's gotten big
What anyone believes in
I never gave a fig
But I could never fully handle
The heart that bore the load
Something never spoken
Something forever owed
Till I can bring you home
Till I can bring you home
No, I will never really be free
While you live in my memory
In awe and almost fearful
I'll bet that you don't care
You're most likely thinking
About your brother still back there
Till I can bring him home
Till I can bring you home
I will never really be free
While you live in my memory
I can never have it taken
But I wanted you to know
That forever we're connected, you and me
It doesn't matter where it goes
There are things we simply owe
I can bring you home
I can bring you home
I can bring you home
I can bring you home
I can bring you home
I can bring you home
Till I can bring you home
Till I can bring you home
No, I will never really be free
While you live in my memory
No, I will never really be free
While you
live in my memory
In the beginning of the song, the lyrics suggest an indifference towards beliefs and personal convictions, questioning their significance compared to the overwhelming forces of nature. Then the lyrics take a personal turn, describing the difficulty of carrying a heavy heart burden with a sense of something missing, something that is forever owed. The song then moves towards a theme of family and shared history, expressing the desire to bring loved ones back home and the realization that we are forever connected to those people.
The repetition of the phrase "till I can bring you home" emphasizes the longing to regain a sense of completion and wholeness by being reunited with the people we care about. The line "I can never have it taken, but I wanted you to know" seems to suggest that there are some things money or power cannot buy, including the importance of human connections and relationships.
Overall, the song Forever Owed is a heartfelt exploration of human connections, longing, and the things we owe to each other that cannot be measured in material terms.
Line by Line Meaning
And when the mighty sea is heaving
When life becomes difficult and chaotic
And the mountain's gotten big
And the obstacles become seemingly insurmountable
What anyone believes in
I don't concern myself with others' beliefs
I never gave a fig
I don't care
But I could never fully handle
But I couldn't deal with
The heart that bore the load
The emotional burden that I carried
Something never spoken
There's something I've never said
Something forever owed
And it's something that I owe forever
Till I can bring you home
Until I can be with you again
No, I will never really be free
I will never truly feel free
While you live in my memory
As long as I remember you
In awe and almost fearful
I'm amazed and a little afraid
I'll bet that you don't care
I imagine that you aren't concerned
You're most likely thinking
You're probably contemplating
About your brother still back there
About your brother who is still there
Till I can bring him home
Until I can reunite you with him
I will never really be free
I will never really feel free
I can never have it taken
I can never lose it
But I wanted you to know
But I wanted to make sure you understand
That forever we're connected, you and me
That we'll always have a bond, no matter what happens
It doesn't matter where it goes
It doesn't matter what happens in the future
There are things we simply owe
There are obligations that we have
I can bring you home
I can reunite us
Till I can bring you home
Until I can reunite us
No, I will never really be free
I will never truly feel free
While you live in my memory
As long as I remember you
I can bring you home
I can reunite us
I can bring you home
I can reunite us
I can bring you home
I can reunite us
I can bring you home
I can reunite us
I can bring you home
I can reunite us
I can bring you home
I can reunite us
Till I can bring you home
Until I can reunite us
Till I can bring you home
Until I can reunite us
No, I will never really be free
I will never truly feel free
While you live in my memory
As long as I remember you
No, I will never really be free
I will never truly feel free
While you live in my memory
As long as I remember you
Lyrics © MCDMAN MUSIC, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: BEN WILSON, BRENDAN HILL, CHAN KINCHLA, DAVID BIANCO, JOHN C. POPPER, TAD KINCHLA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind