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.
The Urge for Going
Travis Lyrics
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It hovered in a frozen sky and gobbled summer down
So when the leaves were trembling
Frozen trees were standing in a lonely row
I get the urge for going but I never seem to go
And I get the urge for going when the meadow grass is turning brown
And summertime is falling down and winter's moving in
I had a love in summertime with summer-colored skin
And not another one in town my darling's heart could win
But when the sky turned traitor cold
And bully winds did rub their noses in the snow
She got the urge for going and I had to let her go
And she got the urge for going when the meadow grass was turning brown
Summertime was falling down and winter's moving in
The warriors of winter gave a cold triumphant shout
Now all that dies is staying and all that lives is getting out
See the geese in chevron flight
Flurrying and flapping through the naked sky
They got the urge for going
They've got the wings to fly
They get the urge for going when the meadow grass is turning brown
And summertime is falling down and winter's moving in
I'll ply the fire with kindling and pull the blankets to my chin
I'll lock the vagrant winter out and bolt my wandering in
I'd like to call back summertime
And ask her just to stay another month or so
But she got the urge for going
I guess she'll have to go
And she got the urge for going when the meadow grass was turning brown
Summertime is falling down and winter's moving in
And she got the urge for going when the meadow grass was turning brown
All my empires are fallen down and winter's moving in
The song "The Urge for Going" by Travis is a poignant piece about the inevitability of change and the way that it can uproot our established lives. The opening lines set a stark tone, as the singer wakes up to find snow on the ground and speaks of how it "gobbled summer down". The imagery of "frozen trees standing in a lonely row" evokes a sense of bleakness and loneliness.
The song speaks of the urge to leave, to go somewhere else, but never seeming to quite make the move. This can be interpreted as a universal human experience; we all feel a restlessness at times, but often find ourselves held back by fear, obligations or uncertainty. The juxtaposition of the "urge for going" with winter's cold grip and the death of summertime further emphasises the idea of change and the passage of time.
The middle verse tells the story of a lost love, one that couldn't survive the change of season. The line "And not another one in town my darling's heart could win" suggests that this was a love that was unique and special, but still fell prey to the inevitability of the changing of the seasons.
The final verse brings things full circle, as the singer speaks of hunkering down for the winter and locking away the wanderlust that grips them in the warmer months. They long for just a little more time with summertime, but know that it's impossible, and resign themselves to the fact that everything must come to an end.
Overall, "The Urge for Going" is a moving and melancholic song about the human experience of change and how we respond to it.
Line by Line Meaning
I woke up today and found snow perched on the ground
Travis woke up to find his surroundings snow-covered
It hovered in a frozen sky and gobbled summer down
The snowy weather replaced the warmth and beauty of summer
So when the leaves were trembling
When autumn was about to end
Frozen trees were standing in a lonely row
The trees were now barren and unaccompanied
I get the urge for going but I never seem to go
Travis wants to leave, but can't seem to find the motivation to do so
And I get the urge for going when the meadow grass is turning brown
He feels the need to leave when the grass is losing its color
And summertime is falling down and winter's moving in
The arrival of winter is inevitable, and summer is fading away
I had a love in summertime with summer-colored skin
Travis had a lover during the summer with a sun-kissed complexion
And not another one in town my darling's heart could win
His lover was one of a kind and couldn't be matched by anyone else in town
But when the sky turned traitor cold
When the weather changed to become colder and unwelcoming
And bully winds did rub their noses in the snow
The harsh winds made the snow even more unbearable
She got the urge for going and I had to let her go
His lover had the same desire to leave, and Travis had to let her do so
The warriors of winter gave a cold triumphant shout
The winter weather had officially taken over
Now all that dies is staying and all that lives is getting out
Winter is causing living things to leave, while previously-dead things stay intact
See the geese in chevron flight
Travis notices a flock of geese flying in a V-formation
Flurrying and flapping through the naked sky
The geese are flying through the sky, which is devoid of any vegetation
They got the urge for going
Even the geese feel the need to leave and migrate elsewhere
They've got the wings to fly
They are capable of leaving and flying away
I'll ply the fire with kindling and pull the blankets to my chin
Travis is preparing for the winter by starting a fire and bundling up in blankets
I'll lock the vagrant winter out and bolt my wandering in
He will do his best to keep the cold winter weather out and stay inside
I'd like to call back summertime
Travis wishes he could bring back the warmth and beauty of summer
And ask her just to stay another month or so
He wants summer to stick around for an extended period of time
And she got the urge for going
Even summer is leaving
I guess she'll have to go
He has no choice but to accept the fact that summer must go
All my empires are fallen down and winter's moving in
All of Travis's grand ambitions have met their downfall, and winter is approaching
Contributed by Isabella Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.