Homeward Bound

Homeward Bound

(Takes time to load but well worth that time)

In the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing and the sky is clear and red.
When the summer’s ceased its gleaming,
When the corn is past its prime,
When adventure’s lost its meaning,
I’ll be homeward bound in time.

Bind me not to the pasture, chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling and I’ll return to you somehow.

If you find it’s me you're missing, if you’re hoping I’ll return.
To your thoughts I’ll soon be list’ning, and in the road I’ll stop and turn.
Then the wind will set me racing as my journey nears its end.
And the path I’ll be retracing when I’m homeward bound again.

Bind me not to the pasture, chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling and I’ll return to you somehow.

In the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing,
I’ll be homeward bound again.

-Music and Lyrics by Marta Keen

With thanks to Gerard at American Digest for the link.

Comments

[Gerard Van der Leun]

Where did you find the lyrics? I searched for 40 minutes this morning but was defeated by Simon and Garfunkel.

Send me the info, please.

[Rick]

Gerard,

Found the lyrics here.

Regards,

-Rick

[True_Liberal]

It's "Homeward Bound", words & music by
Marta Keen, performed by the Brigham Young U. Singers.

It can be found on "The Road Home" CD by BYU. What a moving, spellbinding work.

"Homeward Bound" is also the title of a S&G song, pointing up the unfortunate fact that songs and other works may have identical titles but be completely different in content. It always helps to identify a song or book by its title PLUS its writer.

[Dan Bins]

A very moving picture tribute to our soldiers in Iraq can be found @www.gcsdistributing.com. Click on the "Until Then" video, and turn up your speakers. "Homeward Bound" is performed by the Brigham Young Choir. If this short production does not move you to tears you'd better check your pulse. Dan Bins

[eddy skropka]

Do you know where I can find the above URL that works properly from a home computer? It is a video that is performed by the BYU. Thank you

[ivan]

i litterally balled my eyes out

[Bonnie]

I've sang this song in choir and loved it the first time I heard it. Now, it just takes on greater meaning. I too cried when I first saw this video. Heres to my friends and family in Iraq and every other solider fighting for our country. Someone on this side is thinking of you, and wishing you would return.

[Wesley Baldwin]

My brother sang this for state solo competetion when he was 14 and a freshman in highschool. He placed 2nd, wich is rare for a bass. Needless to say he was an excellent singer. He committed suicide and my mother could not find the name of the song when the music that went with it. Thank you for posting this. It has been a great help to healing the wounds and truly understanding is calling.

[Rick]

Wesley, God be tangibly present to you and your family as you miss your brother.

[Emily Blevins]

I love this song. I heard it sung by a girls ensemble at Solo and Ensemble festival. This has become my theme song since then. It has much personal meaning to me. I'm a musician and I want to go to Julliard more than ANYTHING. But leaving home would mean leaving those I love. This song says it all. Thank you.

[Sooz]

I hate to break it to everyone but this song is about a horse. It's still beautiful, just about a horse.

[DOMINIQUE]

THIS SONG IS THE BEST EVERY TIME I HEAR IT I CRY ! I SANG IT IN MY U.S. CHAMPIONSHIP CHORUS IN GEORGIA! WE ALL LOVE THIS SONG AND CANT GET OVER IT. I HPOPE THAT THIS SONG WILL TOUCH ALOT OF HEARTS ALL AROUND THE WORLD! AND THEN EVERYONE CAN SEE HOW MUCH IT MEANS TO BE US(U.S.) THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PLAYING A HEART FELT MOVIE WITH IT, IT GIVES A LITTLE TOUCH THAT JUST HITS THE SPOT.

[Steven]

I posted this on our web site and the response has been terrific. Each time I see the video I cry for our Men and Women in the service and I'm so proud of them.

[Sharon]

Thank you for the lyrics everyone should go to Gcs and view the other tributes. They cover many events. My son is back to Iraq for the second time. and the song lets me let go of some of the pent up emotions.Thank you again

[Nicole]

I sang this in choir. it touches me deeply since my father is in iraq. ipray for him and sing this.

[MC]

Just FYI, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir just released a new arrangment of this song, and it is hauntingly beautiful. It is on a brand new (Oct. 05) CD entitled "Love is Spoken Here." Check it out. The whole CD is about home and family. Just beautiful

great great

[Lori Towles]

I first heard this when my nephew was in Iraq on his first tour. I can't tell you how special it was to watch and hear. When he left for his second tour in February our family was devastated by the news that he wasn't coming home. This video has helped in the healing of loosing my nephew Sgt. Kenneth Schall. He will always be my HERO. Thank you for the beautiful tribute. May all our soldiers come home safely. America bless God. Lori

[Lillian]

Hello. This is one of the piece that was a choice for us to sing for solo and ensemble. I chose this piece out of the other pieces that we were able to choose from. The reason why was because I thought this was such a pretty song and has a meaning to it. But I sort of gotten it. But if you can, can you send me the meaning to this song? Thank a bunch

[Ellyn]

When I was 13 I sang as a solo in Regional Choir Competition and got 100%!!! This is the best!!!!

[Sylvia]

I heard this haunting melody in an e-mail musical tribute to our military troops. It has touched me deeply and i thank you for posting the lyrics here. I am a cancer patient undergoing treatment so I have a profound attachment to the lyrics.

[Kathleen]

Hi my name is Kathleen and I have a district solo coming up and I chose your song! But I need to listen the recording to your song because my choir teacher messed up totally on the tape that she gave me do u have an idea were I could find it? Kathleen!

[Emily]

I still remember this heart-jerking song from when I sang it in the IU Children's Choir. It has made a lasting memory upon me, and every time I hear it it reminds me of my grandfather. I like this song because I feel that it brings a comfort to those who have someone taken from them. It lets them know that they are still listening - the best comfort ever.

[madeline hammett]

this song is a beautiful moving song.im glad my choir teacher is letting me do this song.
~madi hammett

[brandi smith]

i love this song soo much do you think that you could send me the tune to it... the piece for it... because i am in chorus and we are singing this song.. and i think it is really really pretty..

[Shon Edwards]

My most beloved and special friend in existence gave a recording of this song to me. We are not going to be able to see each other or communicate for a very long time, perhaps for many years. When I heard this song, I just began to weep uncontrollably. Thanks to Marta Keen for this beautiful piece.

[Mary]

Very beautiful. I keep trying to find a trac in order to listen again.

[amelia]

I love this song my Coral group is singing it at a competiton and we sound really good

[christine]

I love this song. I sang it as a solo for contest and I got a 1. A 1 is the highest you can get. The song is really pretty.

[Courtney]

Hey.. this song has great meaning to me.. i know it in and out and i sang it when i was in seventh grade at contests and i got a star.. thats the best thing.. and also i was the best singer there with this song.. i'm gonna sing it next year also.. and hopefully i can get to state w/ it.. thanks for the song

[kit]

heyy this song can relate to me and my bf i love it ....

[Deanna Tolman]

To the person who wrote that this is a song about a horse -- I think you missed that unit in high school English class where metaphors were discussed.

A beautiful song, and lovely pictures -- thank you to the person who put those together. Thank you to the BYU choir for its lovely rendition of the song. Thank you to our military and their families for their great sacrifices in this time and in past times.

[Martin]

Thanks for posting the lyrics to Homeward Bound. I found it on iTunes and it's gotten me in the mood for Memorial Day.

So you've got a Coastie in your family, huh?

- Martin

[Lexi]

I love this song.....I sang it for a concert and it was wonderful..such a beautiful song....as if you can picture everything you sing in your mind....I loved it!

[Jenni]

I was at the concert one of the commenters on here was talking about, Lexi. It was beautiful and amazing, I had chills the whole time.

[Jenni]

I was at the concert one of the commenters on here was talking about, Lexi. It was beautiful and amazing, I had chills the whole time.

[Karen]

My son was home for 2 weeks from Iraq and returned for the last 7 months of his tour on Wednesday, July 19. I saw the video many months ago, but this time it was even more moving. You see my son has been a civil war re-enactor for over 10 years and the song reminds of the sacrifices of our ancestors as well as of those brave men and women today.

Thank you for posting the lyrics. They will forever be etched in my memory. God has truly blessed America.

[Kim Decker]

My daughter attended an International Arts Academy at Georgia Southern in Statesboro Georgia along with 38 students from Derby England and 14 from Georgia. They spent 10 days with faculty from GSU and St. Benedicts writing a musical entitled FAMILY. It was a wonderful musical and it closed with Homeward Bound. I was very moved but even more moved when I watched these photos along with the song. My heart goes out to all of those young men and women and their families for all they do each day to protect and serve. Without their sacrifices we would not have the lives we enjoy each day. God Bless them and keep them safe..Amen

[Sharon]

Thi is truly the most beautiful song I've ever heard. It's a fitting song to pay tribute to our troops.
God Bless America!!!!

[Julie]

I love that song!Itz my favorite.xD My Choir teacher know who is Marta Keen and That is suprising.

[swells]

do u happen to have a recording or this song?

[Mary Michaelene Andersen RN]

A friend sent me information on a site to go to and it played this song to a slideshow presentation - pictures from Iraq. My little brother is there - a Senior Chief in the Navy an EOD specialist. He and his team take care of unexploded ordinance. It is very difficult - the waiting and hoping that he and his team and all the men and women there are safe. God bless us all.

[Robin McCarthy]

Every time I hear this song in the GCS video, I cry. I have sons in Afghanistan and Iraq who are spending their first Christmas away from home. This song is a great comfort to me and my family. Thank you Marta, for these beautiful lyrics.

[lizzi]

what can i search on bearshare to download this song?
my choir is singing this, this year :]

[Sara]

I sang this as a solo in High School. It is a beautiful song. The song, along with the photos, brang tears to my eyes. My thoughts and prayers are with the troops always.

[Katie Bush]

I love this song i am singing it for solo and ensemble this month and i have to write a report on it so i decided to look it up and now it makes perfect sense to me i have friends and family in irag or nearby also just for my protection i am not related to George W. Bush you know the president if your saying that you lost someone dear i am very sorry to hear that and im sorry that we always have to be aat war with someone else always i recently lost someone i barely knew but it just about killed me so i know that it must have hurt alot to loose someone you knew a great deal if you get this personaly and read this please send me an email my email address is singsoutloud2007@yahoo.com and i would love to hear from anyone who has something to say about it i will cherish this song forever no matter what it is a beautiful and touching song now i know why my choir teacher chose it for me and thankyou for letting everyone read this i would love to hear from you and anybody else who reads this

[cedes]

im glad i found this.
i have to memorize it for solo/ensemble
in choir
thanks for posting it

[Chad]

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has this song on one of their CD's. Called "Love is Spoken Here" You can find it on their website http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.com/products/. If you want find the very best recording of this song, this is it.

omg i love this song!!!my choir is singing it for the spring!!!!i love it soo much!!

[krisser]

i absolutely love this song!

[krisser]

i absolutely love this song!

[G]

Thank so much for posting this, I have to sing it for my chamber singers audition for my high school tomorrow, and i forgot my sheet music at school !~

[rachel]

I've sung this song for years and i love it! THis song discribes my heart when it says ' then the wind will set meracing as my journey nears its end and the path i'll be retracing when i'm homeward bound again'
I love this song!!!!!

[Ashleen]

I love this song, and were doing in in chior but I cant find the song anywhere to download it... Does anyone know the Artist who sings this song?

[Maggie]

I really love this song. We sang it in choir, and now im singing it for my vocal magnet audition for high school. Its a truely beautiful song. :]

[Mike]

Very good song as well as tribute to our troops. I am a civil war reenactor and every year at our home event (Philippi, WV- first land battle of the civil war) the civil war choir sings this. My mom is in the choir and I would maker her sing this for me all the time. It sends shivers up my back everytime I hear it.

[DW]

This song is the story of my youth, when my parents gave me roots and wings. I have traveled the world, but I aalways return to them on the farm. I want this song to be sung at my funeral.

[Kat]

i love this song. it has a huge meaning to everyone in my school choir.

if anyone can find a recording of this, treble, mixed, or baritone, i'd love them (:

[emily]

i love this song so much! we sang this song at my only living grandpa's funeral. it has so much meaning.

[Bill]

This is the most beautiful rendition of Homeward Bound I have ever heard. From the Brigham Young Choir on Tantara Records.

http://tantararecords.com/user_pages/RoadHome-UntilThen.htm

[neyshaliz rivera]

omg i love this song

[Jim Emanuel]

This hymn hits right in the gut. And that's a good thing for olde codgers like me. I first came across the song while visiting a website for those of us who served our country in the 1960s & 70s in Thailand. We worked mostly in secrecy at the time with or on an airplane - the F-105 - that was trying to stop the war in Vietnam. In the process, we lost a bundle of them along with some very superior people. A gentleman by the name of Gary Baker has composed a website at the request of his son, Craig, called "Craig Baker's F-105 website - The Awesome Thunderchief." It is a shrine, really, to these men who "... flew that one last mission." Mr, Baker has included this hymn as part of the Heroes link under Group Dedication. Please take a look and remember all of the sacrifices that our military has made and are making today to keep U.S. - that's you and me - safe. Freedom isn't always free; peace isn't always peaceful.

[Nicole Muise]

Does anyone have the French lyrics to Homeward Bound?

[Ann]

I can't even describe how much I love this song. I sang it with my choir at our last concert this past year. I wanted the solo so bad but it was only for Sopranos,I'm an Alto. I hope we sing it next year in 8th grade and maybe the next in high school!

[leamarie]

I love this song! I sang it a few years ago in choir, but now I can't remember all the words. I found it here, thanks!!!( Now I can sing it again!!:D)

[katie]

i LOVE LOVE LOVE this song!!!!!!!!!

I sung this song for choir.I like it alot!

[Elizabeth]

I am so glad I found the lyrics for this! I sang it this year in chorus and was trying to remember the words, and here they are! This song is soooo touching, I'm so glad I saw the little video/picture slideshow. Really heartbreaking!

[Cynthia]

Would someone please explain what a metaphor is to some of these guys.....?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor

[sarah]

i sang this song in chours but my teacher was a jerk and never paid attention to me soo i was stuck in the back of the class while everyone in the first row was her fav. student. but this is a realy good song

[Rebecca]

I sang the solo part to this song at our spring concert this past spring. I'm a voice major at a local university. My prof dedicated this to those who are serving overseas - he knew that my fiance was leaving for the Middle East soon after the school year. It's a BEAUTIFUL piece. I'm thinking about singing it in church when I go home to visit my parents.

[madilynn d]

I love this song! We are singing it in choir and I am going to audition for the solo. This song is very pretty and I am glad that I found the words so I can practice at home.
-maddi d

[lauren]

OMg
this song is so beautiful
im singing it for a solo at our year 12 graduation.
it just soo beautiful

[Misa]

This is one of my most favorite songs! In my choir we have alto and soprano part and I'm an alto and both parts are just breath taking, it's so gorgeous!

I'm so glad I get to sing this song!

[brianna]

im singing this song for a solo im so nervous . =/

[wynndow]

Maggie,

This version was done by a choir at Brigham Young University. As someone else mentioned on this site, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir does an exquisite rendition of it too.

I hope you find the recording.

Wynndow

[Reagan]

I was to nervous to do this song at solo and ensamble, but now that I have the tune,tempo, and key right I can't wait untill next year.

[Patricia All State Singing Contest]

love the song i actually sang it for the 2006-2007 Alstate Singing Contest love it!!!

[Rashi]

We are singing this song for women's choir at Dake Jr. High, Rochester,NY come see us! it sounds sooooo good. I can't wait til our concert. it's on december 11,2007 its free!!
I was going to audition 4 the solo, but I got 2 nervous, oh well It sounds sooo good though(even though i already said that:)

[shelby]

Tony Oller sang this once, and the video is on youtube.com if you search it. It is amazing.

[Brittnay]

OMG WE SING THIS SONG ALL THE TIME AT MY SCHOOL && I LOVE THIS SONG. I SING IT EVERY NGIHT BEFORE I GO TO BED. THIS SONG IS SO LOVELY.

[D. Wallace]

First time I've heard it is this evening. It's beautiful. Does anybody know of a TTBB or a barbershop arrangement?

[anonymous]

i am singing in the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed when the sparrows stop their singing and the sky is clear and read as a solo tomorrow for like over 500 people!!! im so scared!

[Monica]

We are doing this in choir now. I hope to do one of the solos! it is such a pretty song!

[Firmalar]

love the song i actually sang it for the 2006-2007 Alstate Singing Contest love it!!!

[Debra]

A friend sent a website to me with pictures of soldiers accompanied this song as done by the Brigham Young choir. It is heartwrenchingly beautiful as they put it together. Here's the link:
http://www.iwo.com/heroes.htm

[Macy]

When my school chior and I performed it every one loved it. The choir even enjoyed singing it and learning it. The song is also a good perfomance song. The song has deep meaning to it is a great song.

[Christopher]

D. Wallace, you asked for a TTBB arrangement, i do not know of one, but there is a nice TBB arrangement by Jay Althouse

[sg]

im singing this for NYSSAMA solos

[Marjolein]

does anyone know a little bit of information about this song? When it was written, that kind of stuff.. i'm playing/singing this song at school and i have to write a story about the background of the song.

[Corey (LDS)]

I've heard this song, sung before by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Unfortunately it was hard for me to understand the lyrics, so I googled them and came across this page. As I read the lyrics and listened to it, I couldn't help but cry my heart out. Not because it is a song about leaving our earthly home, but because it is /really/ a song about leaving our heavenly home, away from our Heavenly Father. He created us, even though He knew that He couldn't control us, even though He knew we would, some of us, inevitably never reach all of the potential that He sees in us as our father. I could not help but cry again as I read some of your posts, because very few people in the world seem to understand this. I just hope that some day.. you might all understand. Not just in your mind, but in your heart, and that you might do your best to love and get to know Him. For He loves us all, on such a scale that if we were to ever feel /all/ of the love He has for us, we would surely need to undergo some kind of change, else we would collapse to the earth. I only hope that when I meet you all, it will be on happy terms - that you might take this lesson I've offered you and apply it to your lives. May He be with you, 'till we meet again.

[sheree sheber]

Hi!! My name is Sheree. I'm singing this beautiful song for a solo in chorus.

[alex]

We sang this song at one of my best friends funerals when I was 14. I will always cry when I hear this song.

[Sarah]

My Middle School Chorus is going to be singing this when we go for Judging in June!
It is so pretty and I love it!

[Brittney]

I love this song!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Samantha :-)]

when you want to look up a song its best to type in a part of the song you remember. i typed "in the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed" to find the song. thats my advice to Gerard Van der Leun

[Samantha :-)]

PS seriously you really need to delete the comments from 5 yrs ago i mean COME ON PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Kelley]

i love this song, a friend and i are singing a duet for our eighth grade awards day and this is the song we chose. it's a great song and it fits great for us because we are all seperating and going to different schools, and going our own ways. thanks so much for writing it

[G. Mick Beale]

John Ringo is a SciFi writer. He writes space saga with soldiers and marines fighting for humanity somewhere in the universe. He uses this song in his novel 'MANXOME FOE', written with Travis Taylor. From there, I tracked it to here. As a viet vet, it has a deep emotional impact on me.
Thank you for having presented it here.

[shannon w.]

We sang this song in my high school chamber choir it was absolutely amazing, one of the favorites, always made me cry, especially when a couple of us redid it at the end of the year for graduation. good pick