I'm sittin' in the railway station
Got a ticket to my destination
On a tour of one-night stands
My suitcase and guitar in hand
And every stop is neatly planned
For a poet and a one-man band

Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home where my thought's escapin'
Home where my music's playin'
Home where my love lies waitin'
Silently for me

Every day's an endless stream
Of cigarettes and magazines
And each town looks the same to me
The movies and the factories
And every stranger's face I see
Reminds me that I long to be

Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home where my thought's escapin'
Home where my music's playin'
Home where my love lies waitin'
Silently for me

Tonight I'll sing my songs again
I'll play the game and pretend
But all my words come back to me
In shades of mediocrity
Like emptiness in harmony
I need someone to comfort me

Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home where my thought's escapin'
Home where my music's playin'
Home where my love lies waitin'
Silently for me
Silently for me


Lyrics submitted by oofus

Homeward Bound Lyrics as written by Paul Simon

Lyrics © Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

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Homeward Bound song meanings
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7 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    He's sick of being on the road, and he yearns to just go home.

    oofuson February 23, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    so sweet . i love listening to this song when walking to school in the rain.

    dutch_angel_moion September 18, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Written on Widnes train station....I'll take folk rock trivia for 5 points.

    NHSMonkeyon October 27, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Actually Simon said it was inspired by Widnes saying something along the lines of 'anyone who knows Widnes will know why I was longing to get back to London'. Could have been written anywhere.

    g03648on May 08, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Actually Simon said it was inspired by Widnes saying something along the lines of 'anyone who knows Widnes will know why I was longing to get back to London'. Could have been written anywhere.

    g03648on May 08, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Many years ago, (20?), on his last show before Christmas, Letterman played this song to scenes of actual people arriving, presumably home, to loved ones in bus/train stations and/or airport. It was poignant, one of the most moving "videos" I've ever seen. Does anyone else remember it?

    pixie duston June 21, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is one of the first songs I remember and there was someone on a bus singing it; a slow bus windings its way around narrow country roads through green fields. We were travelling to see our Gran with whom we were living at the time and it was going home. The idea of home and displacement had come to us early, losing a mother young. The idea of separation and yearning for something lost wasn't hard to relate to and I like the gentle, slightly rueful quality in Paul Simon's voice which rose into a sort of defiance in the chorus. Gone through many musical genres since then but always had affection for this song.

    NWNmoonon October 28, 2012   Link

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