Song Lyric Sunday: Home

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I often refer to a sense of being home when I am describing various aspects of my life journey, especially my spiritual journey. There are many places and experiences that feel like home to me. For example, I feel at home when I am in my house in Seattle; I feel at home when I’m with my children; I feel at home when I am at Seabeck Conference Center on the Olympic Peninsula; I feel at home when I am with Amma and I feel at home when I am in altered states of consciousness that take me to spiritual bliss or deep peace. So these were the types of experiences I thought of when I first discovered that the theme of Song Lyric Sunday this week is Home.

I was REALLY surprised when the song that immediately popped into my head was a song from my childhood: Home on the Range! I can’t remember the last time I thought of that song. In fact, I wonder if my adult children ever sang it when they were young. Do today’s children still sing it around the campfire? I doubt it but I could be very wrong.

When I was a child we watched a lot of movies… and television shows after television was invented… about the Wild West. In 1956, when I was seven or eight, I loved a Disney movie named Westward Ho the Wagons. I often fantasized about what it would have been like for me to be part of a group traveling by wagon to the western frontier.

I found it interesting to read the history of Home on the Range. The lyrics were written by Dr. Brewster Higley in the early 1870’s. Daniel E. Kelly composed the tune sometime after that. It was made the state song of Kansas in 1947. Even prior to that it was considered to be the unofficial anthem of the American West.

Bing Crosby first performed Home on the Range in 1933. It was also recorded by Frank Sinatra, Connie Francis, Gene Autry, Burl Ives and others. President Franklin Roosevelt once said it was his favorite song.

The many versions of the song do not always have the same lyrics. What stays consistent and is most often sung around the campfire is the first verse and the chorus.

What memories does hearing this song bring back for you?

12 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday: Home”

  1. Laugh if you must, but as a “city slicker” my own memories of this song just have to due with watching Barney the Dinosaur and Friends back in the day.

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    1. My attitude is the same. It is not a song I have means anything to me but what I learned when I looked it up was fascinating. One of the reasons I like participating in this prompt is that I learn interesting things about songs I know.

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  5. I don’t remember many happy times in my childhood, but this one brought some of them back. We used to camp all the time when I was a kid (it was pretty much the only vacation we could afford) and we used to sing this song around the campfire. Thanks so much for bringing back the good memories. ❤

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    1. Singing around the campfire provided many of my positive childhood memories too, although it wasn’t with my family. For me it was with the Girl Scouts or church groups.

      There was a point in my life when I could write all the childhood memories I had on one piece of paper. I don’t think I even used both sides of the paper.

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