Travelling Light

Tindersticks

There are places I don't remember
There are times and days they mean nothing to me
I've been looking through some of them old pictures
They don't serve to jog my memory

I'm not waking in the morning staring at the walls these days
I'm not getting out the boxes spread all over the floor
I've been looking through some of them old pictures
Those faces they mean nothing to me no more

[Chorus]
I travel light
You travel light
Everything I've done
You say you can justify, you travel light
I can't pick them out, I can't put them in this saddle bag
Some things you have to lose along the way
Times are hard, I'll only pick them out, wish I was going back
Times are good you'll be glad you ran away

Do you remember how much you loved me?
You say you have no room in that thick old head
Well it comes with the hurt and the guilt, and the memories
If I had to take them with me I would never get from my bed
There's a crack in the roof where the rain pours through
That's the place you always decided to sit
Yeah I know I'm there for hours, the water running down my /your face
Do you really think you keep it all that well hid?
No but I travel light
You don't travel light
Everything I've done
It's just a lie, you don't travel light
I'm traveling light
No you don't travel light
I travel light
No, no, you don't travel light
I'm traveling light
You don't travel light


Lyrics submitted by pretium

Travelling Light Lyrics as written by David Boulter Alasdair Macaulay

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Travelling Light song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

4 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +2
    General CommentNo comments so far on perhaps my favourite song of all time? My take on it: the man is travelling through life, making many mistakes along the way. He pretends, or perhaps believes that the past, the people he hurt don't matter to him, he was not at fault. He travels light, not carrying the burden of painful memories. This, of course, is a farce as the woman can see through his facade. She can see that he is running from the past, but that he can't escape the guilt of his actions. He carries all his emotional baggage, all his pain with him. Stunning song. Anybody else have a different take on it?
    wumingon May 13, 2009   Link
  • +2
    General CommentI can't stop listening to this song on loop. Quite possibly Tindersticks' best.

    I think you're pretty spot on. I think the woman was also fooled at first by the man's "traveling light" attitude and she figures out by the end of the song who he really is after their relationship is over.

    I think it's the ultimate metaphor for being in denial. Torgerson's voice combined with Staples' works like a charm for this song. Both sound so hurt and damaged by what happened within their own relationship (in the song).

    I think Stuart's character wants something so much more, but the past keeps stopping him from moving forward. Even though he "travels light" there's that crack in the roof where the rain falls through where he acknowledges the denial and let's it take over. That struggle always continues no matter how he light he travels, which in reality, isn't light at all.
    twistedfloydon March 08, 2014   Link
  • +2
    General CommentI love the many sides of Tindersticks but I'm especially a sap for some of their duets. This one is really haunting. I kind of see both the woman and man as having conflicted takes on each other and their own lives. I t creates a lyrical doubling back on both their parts.. They're simultaneously extolling the freedom of letting go of the past but then also acknowledging that something lingers to gnaw away at this. The musical references, such as those glances at country western forms is a nice cover for some rich subtext.. It's a most haunting and beguiling song and I totally agree with the first writer that it's truly great. Why doesn't it have more of a following? The shallow disconnected time we reside in?
    eric100003on August 11, 2014   Link
  • +1
    General CommentI agree with everything written above. The guy is in complete denial. He seems to be using denial as a defense mechanism and he continues using it through out the song as if he is trying to accumulate the emotional resources needed to face his demons. He seems to do this until he can no longer hold out or until he eventually garners the resources needed and then he gives in.

    There seems to be two different conversations going throughout the song until both ultimately coalesce around the crack in the roof line. He is talking throughout as if she is not there whereas she is trying to talk to him and engage with him. His discourse is continually self referential whereas she speaks about both of them. He is completely absorbed in himself and even when he speaks to her towards the end of the song he just keeps repeating the same sentence.

    This is a fantastic piece of work which is enhanced greatly by two fabulous voices. Well done to all concerned.
    tt2on February 26, 2016   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top