Travis is a Scottish indie band formed in Glasgow in 1990, composed of Fran… Read Full Bio ↴Travis is a Scottish indie band formed in Glasgow in 1990, composed of Fran Healy (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Dougie Payne (bass guitar, backing vocals), Andy Dunlop (lead guitar, banjo, backing vocals) and Neil Primrose (drums, percussion). The band's name comes from the character Travis Henderson (played by Harry Dean Stanton) from the film Paris, Texas (1984).

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.

Safe
Travis Lyrics

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Take all the goods from all the bads
And tell the people that you've gone away
Now lift your head up to the sky
And now you can tell apart the black from the white

We waste the time they treasure dear
My only thought is that they could be right

Oh look there goes another year,
About as distant as a satellite

And I feel safe, so safe
And I feel safe, so safe
And I feel safe, so safe

The world's a small child in the dark
And my mind's a safe place that its always been
The monsters seem to fade so fast
Upon the waking of another dream

And I feel safe, so safe
And I feel safe, so safe
And I feel safe, I feel so brave
I'm not afraid of anything they've got to say
And you're okay because you're tucked away
Don't go astray you've got to be just who you are
Who you are

When I was young things didn't last
My only care stemmed to the the price of sweets
Now that I'm older I can laugh
A dolly mixed up man of rotten teeth
And I feel safe, so safe
And I feel safe, so safe
And I feel safe, so safe, so safe
And I feel safe, so safe

And I feel safe, so safe,
So safe

Overall Meaning

In the song "Safe" by Travis, the lyrics speak of feeling safe and secure in oneself despite the uncertainties and complexities of the world. The first verse encourages one to take all the goods from the bads and tell people they have gone away. This could either mean to take the good things from difficult situations or to remove oneself from negative environments. The lyrics then express the idea of being able to distinguish between good and bad, or black and white. The chorus repeats the phrase "And I feel safe, so safe" emphasizing the feeling of security and stability.

The second verse compares the world to a small child in the dark and one's own mind to a safe place that has always been there. The monsters, or fears, seem to fade away quickly when one wakes up from a dream. The chorus then repeats followed by the bridge which speaks of a perspective shift from when one was young and only cared about the price of sweets to now that they're older and able to laugh at the silly things in life. It encourages one to embrace who they are and not be afraid of what others may say.

Overall, the lyrics of "Safe" portray a message of finding comfort and security within oneself, despite the difficulties and uncertainties of life.

Line by Line Meaning

Take all the goods from all the bads
Separate all the good things from the bad things

And tell the people that you've gone away
Let people know that you're leaving

Now lift your head up to the sky
Look up towards the sky

And now you can tell apart the black from the white
You can now distinguish between right and wrong

We waste the time they treasure dear
We spend time frivolously that other people value greatly

My only thought is that they could be right
I think they may be correct

Oh look there goes another year
Another year has come and gone

About as distant as a satellite
As far away as a satellite in space

The world's a small child in the dark
The world's a small, vulnerable place

And my mind's a safe place that its always been
My mind is still the same safe place it has always been