The band released their debut album, Good Feeling (1997), to moderate success where it debuted at number nine on the UK Albums Chart and was later awarded a silver certification from the BPI in January 2000. The band gained greater success with their second album, The Man Who (1999), which spent nine weeks at number one on the UK Albums Chart, totalling 134 weeks in the top 100 of the chart. In 2003, The Man Who was certified 9× platinum by the BPI, representing sales of over 2.68 million in the UK alone. Following this success, the band released their third effort, The Invisible Band (2001) album. The Invisible Band went on to match the success found with their previous album, where it debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and spent a total of four weeks at the top spot, fifteen weeks in the top ten, and a total of fifty-five weeks in the top 100 chart, as well as peaking at thirty-nine on the US Billboard 200 album chart, spending a duration of seven weeks in the Billboard 200 chart. A year following the release of The Invisible Band, the BPI awarded Travis with a 4× platinum certification for the album.
In recent years, the band's discography has included studio albums 12 Memories (2003), The Boy with No Name (2007), Ode to J. Smith (2008), Where You Stand (2013), Everything at Once (2016) and 10 Songs (2020). In 2004, the band released their first greatest hits album, Singles, which spent nineteen weeks in the top 100 of the UK albums chart. Travis have twice been awarded best band at the BRIT Awards and were awarded the NME Artist of the Year award at their 2000 ceremony, and in 2016 were honoured at the Scottish Music Awards for their outstanding contribution to music. The band are widely said by the media to have paved the way for other bands such as Keane and Coldplay to go on to achieve worldwide success throughout the 2000s, particularly with the success of The Man Who.
Craft Recordings celebrated the 20th anniversary of Travis' breakthrough year with two simultaneous releases: Live at Glastonbury '99, plus expanded editions of The Man Who – both of which were released on 21 June 2019.
Green Behind the Ears
Travis Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That you don't need to follow
We could make it out of here
We could be there tomorrow
'Cos there's always tomorrow
You're so silly, oh so silly
Especially just ordinary
We're green behind the ears
Just a pocket of people
With their ordinary faces
As the crow flies
They got further to fly
Without a word or a lie
The song "Green Behind the Ears" by Travis is a call to leave the ordinary behind and take a chance on something unknown. The lyrics suggest that by not following the crowd, we can make something better of our lives. Travis sings, "Just a simple suggestion, that you don't need to follow, we could make it out of here. We could be there tomorrow, 'cos there's always tomorrow." He emphasizes that despite being new to the process, it's alright to take a chance and explore something new. Travis sings, "We're green behind the ears," signifying that there may be a lot that they don't know, but it shouldn't deter them from trying.
The song is also about the journey of discovering oneself. The lyrics suggest that it is okay to not know everything in life, and we can learn and grow by exploring new avenues. The people Travis sings about are ordinary, but they will not stay that way if they take a chance on themselves. The lyrics, "Without a word or a lie," indicate that the journey to self-discovery and finding one's true potential cannot be achieved by simply talking or pretending.
Line by Line Meaning
Just a simple suggestion
I have an idea that I want to share with you
That you don't need to follow
You don't have to do what everyone else is doing
We could make it out of here
We can leave this place and start fresh
We could be there tomorrow
We could start over and be in a better place soon
'Cos there's always tomorrow
There is always another day to try again
You're so silly, oh so silly
You are unique and special in your own way
Especially just ordinary
Even though we may seem ordinary, we have potential
We've got nothing to hurt now
There is nothing holding us back from trying something new
We're green behind the ears
We are inexperienced and new, but that shouldn't stop us
Just a pocket of people
We are a small group of individuals
With their ordinary faces
We may look like everyone else, but there's more to us than that
As the crow flies
If we take a direct path
They got further to fly
It will be a long journey for us
Without a word or a lie
We don't need to deceive anyone or say anything to start over
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: FRANCIS HEALY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind