Playlist: Coming Home

No, not football silly... the prodigal daughter returned home from university this weekend, and that is why we are celebrating the home. It's where the heart is, after all.

Ten songs about going home, being home and not being home.

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1. Foo Fighters: Home

Home is the closing track for Foo Fighters sixth studio album - with some of the lyrics providing the records title - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. The record demonstrated two sides to the band, containing a mix of their usual heavy rockers, along with some much more tender, acoustic numbers. Home belongs in the latter category, a piano driven ballad to close the album out and a song that Dave Grohl considered at the time, "the best song I've ever written".

Home (live on Yahoo! Live Sets, 2007)

2. Pavement: Home

Same song title, completely different song. This contrasting one comes from the third EP by leading slacker indie rockers, Pavement, Perfect Sound Forever. The seven track EP was recorded over just two days in 1991, in the band's native Stockton, California. It is typical of their lo-fi approach that was par for the course in the early days, with suitably abstract lyrics about how "King chooser has come for my number".

Home (audio only)

3. Elvis Presley: Home Is Where The Heart Is

1962 saw Elvis return to the silver screen, this time as a boxer in Kid Galahad, starring with Gig Young, Lola Albright and Charles Bronson. It was, in fact, a remake of a 1937 movie that had starred Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart (though I think without the music). Six of the songs from the film were released as the Kid Galahad EP, reaching number 30 on the Billboard. Home Is Where The Heart Is was written by the pairing of Sherman Edwards and Hal David.

Home Is Where The Heart Is (from the film, Kid Galahad)

4. Ozzy Osbourne: Mama, I'm Coming Home

One of the late Sir Oswald Osbourne's power ballads here, coming from his sixth solo record - 1991s No More Tears. Interestingly, for a ballad, the lyrics were written by no less than Lemmy (Motorhead), and it was actually his only ever solo US Top 40 single (in his lifetime), reaching number 28 that year. The music was first written by his rather excellent guitarist, Zakk Wylde, on a piano, and later transposed to the guitar when they got into the studio.

Mama, I'm Coming Home (official music video)

5. Simon & Garfunkel: Homeward Bound

One of the pair's most celebrated tunes, this was written by Paul Simon during his time in England in the early 60s, while indeed 'waiting at a railway station' . Apparently it was at Widnes station in Cheshire, or at least they claim that and have put a plaque up to commemorate it. It was actually written during the sessions for album number two - Sounds of Silence - but didn't get to appear until the following LP, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. He was at Widnes, following a gig, and en route to his next one in Hull, and was missing his friend Kathy Chitty, who he met from his regular gigs at the Railway Hotel in Brentwood. It might be the case that Widnes is only part of the song's story though; Simon's friend Geoff Speed said some of it was written at his Liverpool house, the chorus in Wigan, and it was probably finished off while waiting for that train at Widnes.

Homeward Bound (live in Central Park)

6. Bryan Adams: Home Again

Three years in the making, Bryan Adams 1987s Into The Fire, the follow up to the monster hit that had been Reckless, was considered by many to be a flop. You could argue that lyrically it was a bit painful at times, and the sound was quite a change to the classic rock edge of Reckless and Cuts Like A Knife - but you could not call it a commercial failure. It 'only' sold two million copies, which of course only sounds bad when you consider the twelve million that Reckless had sold. Home Again is the closing track on the album, and was written with his usual co-conspirator of the time, Jim Vallance. He recalled it came from a tough spell of writing during a bitterly cold London winter. The result is a much slower and more thoughtful tune than perhaps Adams was known for.

Home Again (audio - live at the Royal Albert Hall, 2023)

7. Paul Young: Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)

You may not realise this, but Wherever I Lay My Hat was actually an early Marvin Gaye tune; written by Gaye, with Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield in 1962. His version was merely a B-Side, while Paul Young took it and turned it into a UK number one in 1983. His version is slower and more melancholic than the original, with the distinctive bass lines were played by renowned session player, Pino Palladino. And whatever you think of his songs, Paul Young has a truly fantastic voice!

Wherever I Lay My Hat (official music video)

8. The Cure: Homesick

Although it didn't quite make it onto the original vinyl version, Homesick was eventually included on eighth album, Disintegration (1989). The basic work for the song was done by Lol Tolhurst, although his increasing alcohol issues meant that it was one of his few major contributions to the record. It is quite a stark tune, with emotional singing from Robert Smith, heightened with the addition of piano.

Homesick (audio only)

9. Kaiser Chiefs: Coming Home

This 2014 single marked a return to the UK Top 40 for the Kaiser Chiefs, after a six year absence - the first since 2008s Never Miss A Beat. It anchored fifth album, Education, Education, Education & War, the first to include new drummer Vijay Mistry, who had replaced Nick Hodgson the previous year. It is another of their more anthemic tunes - reflective and with a bit of emotional heft.

Coming Home (official music video)

10. Crowded House: Better Be Home Soon

This single from Temple Of Low Men would become a regular show closer for the Crowdies over the years. It is a great relationship song, with the narrator exhorting their partner to get home soon. It is, once again, a fantastic example of Neil Finn's songcraft, as he weaves the emotional and bittersweet lyrics with the simple beauty of the acoustic melody he wraps around it.

Better Be Home Soon

(poignant version from 2005 ARIA's - just after the band's Paul Hester died)