My son, Gavin, who recently turned eleven — or as Maggie said, holding up ten fingers, “now he’s off both hands!” — found this song and I immediately loved it. An unexpected track from Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters. The tone of melancholy yearning struck me as perfectly right for the main character, Jude Fox, in my upcoming young adult novel, tentatively titled, Jude, Adrift. It’s a song he’d like, I’m sure of it, and somehow listening to it draws me closer to him. When I focused on the lyrics, I was struck at how some lines seamlessly fit with the story. Cool when that happens.
Slowly I’ve been assembling a soundtrack for the book, songs that might play in the imaginary movie. This would surely be one of them:
Wish I were with you
I couldn’t stay
Every direction
Leads me away
Pray for tomorrow
But for today
All I want is to be home
Stand in the mirror
You look the same
Just lookin’ for shelter
From cold and the pain
Someone to cover
Safe from the rain
All I want is to be home
Echoes and silence
Patience and grace
All of these moments
I’ll never replace
No fear of my heart
Absence of faith
All I want is to be home
Ooh
All I want is to be home
People I’ve loved
I have no regrets
Some I remember
Some I forget
Some of them living
Some of them dead
All I want is to be home