I just wanna go home.

It’s a phrase we’ve all uttered at some point in our lives. Maybe as a bratty 6 six year old or maybe as a wearisome traveler in your 30’s, but the feeling in each instance is the same. Home is a place we long for. Having traveled some 50,000 miles last year I can relate to that concept and so the lyrics of Michael Bublé’s hit song Home are of special interest to me.

The song is credited as the Canadian crooner’s first original hit after having covered a number of classic tunes and standards in his debut album. Home was actually penned by Bublé along with musical director Alan Chang and lyricist, Amy Foster-Gillies, the daughter of renowned songwriter David Foster.

The story goes that Bublé was getting ready for a sound check when he shared with Alan Chang that he’d been working on a song about missing home. The lyrics were more than just words as Bublé expressed that he was feeling homesick after being on tour for quite some time. Chang’s first reaction to the tune was that it felt too negative as Bublé was currently touring Europe and people might not relate to his complaining about being in Paris and Rome. So they sat on the song for a few months.

Another airplane. Another sunny place. I’m lucky I know, but I wanna go home. Mmm, I got to go home.

Months later, Change and Bublé met up again on the set of the NBC show Las Vegas where Michael was appearing as a guest. In between takes they sat in a room where there just so happened to be a piano and the two worked on it again to a point where they thought they had something. They sent what they put together to Amy Foster-Gillies to polish up the lyrics.

In an interview about the song, Foster-Gillies remarked that the lyrices were “about just the difficulties of being away from home” and they tried to work out a balance between “…longing to be home but still knowing there is a gratefulness about where he is.”

Home went on to be #1 on the adult contemporary charts and is considered to be Michael Bublé’s marquee song. It’s also been covered by Blake Shelton and became the first song since I Will Always Love You to top both the country and adult contemporary charts.

Musical achievements aside, I think the songs success stems from the relatability (which evidently isn’t a word but I’m using it anyway) of the lyrics. I’ve been able to go to some amazing places and see some incredible parts of the world for business, but there’s always a longing for home. Not necessarily the four walls, roof and driveway on which I pay a monthly mortgage, but for the comforts, familiarity and love that I find there.

Whether you travel near or far, I trust you have the same thoughts of Home as the lyrics penned in this popular song:

Another airplane
Another sunny place
I’m lucky I know
But I wanna go home
Mmm, I got to go home.

Let me go home
I’m just too far
From where you are
I wanna come home.

Image courtesy of Flickr user jeaneeem