Travelers

I'm still in the the Airport, but as I'm sitting here watching people going by and waiting for my plane, I'm reminded of a song I really like by Carolyn Arends. It's simple and folksy, but very cleverly written and so true!

Travelers
by Carolyn Arends

Well, I should be there already
But my flight has been delayed
I'm a weary one of many
At an overcrowded gate
I have claimed my bit of carpet
'Cause there's not a single chair
Man, it's hard to be this grounded
When I should be in the air.

It's funny at an airport
How you witness every scene
The frantic and the famous
And the faces kind to me
There are signs to welcome daddies
There are flowers and balloons
Business trips and funerals
And happy honeymoons

You can guess some of the stories
'Cause it isn't hard to tell
The tears of sweet reunion
From the ones that bid farewell
There is variance in circumstance
Direction and occasion
But the truth is we're all travelers
Who have not reached our final destination

Eating raisins in the corner
Is a girl of five or six
She is sporting a new shiner
Shaped just like her brother's fist
But I'm sure he didn't mean it
'Cause they get along just fine
Accidents will happen
When you're killing this much time

And over by the payphones
Every guy has got a wife
He'll call to say he's sorry
He might not get home tonight
And that booker in Armani
Just keeps weaving through the crowd
Guess he's had a few too many
'Cause he's getting pretty loud

We are prodigals and pilgrams
We are sinners, we are saints
It gets hard to tell the difference
The more you make us wait
There is variance in circumstance
Direction, and occasion
But the truth is we're all travelers
Who have not reached our final destination

Well, you know those little carts
The employees drive inside
One guy keeps racing past here
Like the Indy's on the line
And the woman cleaning bathrooms
She sings "Jesus is my Lord"
While the girl who makes the hot dogs
Snaps her gum and just looks bored

Me, I sit here dreaming
Of my pillow and my bed
The kids won't be awake
But I will kiss their sleepy heads
With a hundred other passengers
I mutter up a prayer
Lord it's hard to be this grounded
When we should be in the air

We are restless, we are ready
To be anyplace but here
And the waiting has a way
Of making one thing very clear
There is variance in circumstance
Direction and occasion
But the truth is we're all travelers
Who have not reached our final destination

Yeah, the truth is we're all travelers
Who have not reached our final destination

c 2001 Songs of Peer, Ltd / Mr. Marley's Music (ASCAP)