25 planes this year and it's only july

one place : everything but the girl

click here or on the image below to listen. 5m 01s

When I first heard that line from the second verse of this song (lyrics below), I wondered if I would ever be able to achieve the same. Well, pop the champagne because I've just realized that I have! I even exceeded it by one: 26 flights from January to July, taking me to Australia, Vietnam, Dubai, Iran, Greece, and twice each to the Philippines, China and India. I'm tempted to count the UK, but I flew there on August 1st. Bummer. Anyway, I thought this was the perfect occasion to share this song by Everything But The Girl, a sappy pop duo from London who I happen to like very much. One Place is one of my favorite travel-themed songs (as opposed to songs for traveling – I have separate playlists for that one) and it comes from their mid-90s concept album Worldwide. Love the words, which demonstrate what good songwriters the couple of Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn are – or were, before EBTG went techno. Thorn's voice here is gold. Well, it always is.

One Place

A summer evening, I walk past the window

A baby crying, someone's cooking dinner

There's laughter on the TV

And someone's learning the violin

And how that home appeals

At times like this I feel that

I would like to live like anybody else

In one place

And I could be happy and fulfilled

In one place

So I get the map out

And draw a line of where we've been

It goes thru sea and sky

Twenty-five planes this year

And it's only July

This is not some bible like On The Road

It's just a song about coming home

And whether

I could live like anybody else

In one place

And I could be happy and fulfilled

In one place

And you know that I have found

I'm happiest weaving from town to town

And you know Bruce said

We should keep moving around

Or maybe we'll all get too tied down

I don't know

In the end if you take care

You can be happy or unhappy anywhere