Brown learned to play guitar at eight and banjo at ten. When she was twelve, she met fiddler Stuart Duncan. In the summer of 1978, Brown traveled across the country with Duncan and his father, playing festivals and contests. She won first place at the Canadian National Banjo Championship, which helped her land a one-night gig at the Grand Ole Opry.
In 1987, Alison Krauss asked Brown to join her band, Union Station. Brown spent three years with Krauss. In 1990, she moved to Tennessee, and was named International Bluegrass Music Association Banjo Player of the Year in 1991.
In 1992, Brown became the band leader for Michelle Shocked. This experience led Brown to merge bluegrass with jazz and folk idioms, in a manner similar to those of Béla Fleck and David Grisman.
In the early 1990s, Brown and her husband, bass player Garry West, started their own record label, Small World Music. This company eventually led to the launch of Compass Records in 1995.
In the mid 1990s, Brown began to lead the Alison Brown Quartet.
In 2001, in collaboration with Béla Fleck, Brown won the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance for her song "Leaving Cottondale" from her album Fair Weather. She participated in Alison Krauss's Grammy-winning album I've Got That Old Feeling, and received a Grammy nomination for her own recording, Simple Pleasures (1990).
Homeward Bound
Alison Brown Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Got a ticket to my destination.
On a tour of one-night stands my suitcase and guitar in hand.
And ev'ry stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band.
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping,
Home where my love lies waiting
Silently for me.
Ev'ry day's an endless stream
Of cigarettes and magazines.
And each town looks the same to me, the movies and the factories
And ev'ry stranger's face I see reminds me that I long to be,
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping,
Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting
Silently for me.
Tonight I'll sing my songs again,
I'll play the game and pretend.
But all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity
Like emptiness in harmony I need someone to comfort me.
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping,
Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting
Silently for me.
Silently for me.
Alison Brown's "Homeward Bound" talks about her experiences while travelling on tours. The song begins with her sitting at a railway station with a ticket to her destination, carrying her suitcase and guitar. The lyrical content of the song conveys her desire to go back home where her thoughts are free, her music is playing, and her love is waiting silently for her. She portrays being on tour as a monotonous and lonely experience, from the endless stream of cigarettes and magazines to the places that all appear the same. She desires to be back home, where she can be with her loved ones.
The second verse of "Homeward Bound" depicts Alison Brown singing her song again and pretending to play the game. Still, all her words come back to her as empty and mediocre without anyone to comfort her. She longs to be Homeward Bound, where she can escape and be happy.
Overall, Homeward Bound is a longing for a place of emotional security and peace of mind, where Brown can escape from the monotony of her tours and find comfort in the familiar.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm sitting in the railway station.
The singer is currently present in a train station.
Got a ticket to my destination.
The singer has a train ticket to where they want to go.
On a tour of one-night stands my suitcase and guitar in hand.
The singer has been playing shows in different places every night, carrying their suitcase and guitar with them.
And ev'ry stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band.
Each stop on the tour has been purposefully chosen for the sole performer, the artist.
Homeward bound, I wish I was,
The artist desires to be headed back home.
Home where my thought's escaping,
Home is where the singer can free their mind from stress and worries.
Home where my music's playing,
Home is where the singer can enjoy listening to music.
Home where my love lies waiting Silently for me.
Home is where the artist's loved one is, waiting patiently for them.
Ev'ry day's an endless stream Of cigarettes and magazines.
Every day seems to be monotonous to the artist, consisting of cigarettes and magazines.
And each town looks the same to me, the movies and the factories
The artist feels like all the towns they have been to on their tour look identical, with similar sights like movie theaters and factories.
And ev'ry stranger's face I see reminds me that I long to be,
The singer sees unfamiliar faces that only make them miss home even more.
Tonight I'll sing my songs again, I'll play the game and pretend.
The artist will continue to perform their music, but is simply going through the motions.
But all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity
The singer feels like their lyrics are uninspiring and lacking originality.
Like emptiness in harmony I need someone to comfort me.
The singer feels alone and in need of someone to provide them with comfort.
Homeward bound, I wish I was,
The singer still wishes to go back home.
Home where my thought's escaping,
Once again, home is where the artist can free their mind from stress and worries.
Home where my music's playing,
The artist misses the feeling of listening to music in the comfort of home.
Home where my love lies waiting Silently for me. Silently for me.
The singer's loved one is still waiting for them at home, patiently and quietly.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JERRY LANDIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind