One Way Ticket Home
"One Way Ticket Home" | |
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Song by Phil Ochs | |
from the album Greatest Hits | |
Published | 1970 |
Released | 1970 |
Genre | Rock |
Length | 2:39 |
Label | A&M |
Songwriter(s) | Phil Ochs |
Producer(s) |
Van Dyke Parks and Andrew Wickham |
"One Way Ticket Home" | ||||
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![]() Promotional copy of "One Way Ticket Home" | ||||
Single by Phil Ochs | ||||
B-side | "My Kingdom for a Car" | |||
Released | 1972 | |||
Format | Vinyl | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 2:39 | |||
Label | A&M | |||
Songwriter(s) | Phil Ochs | |||
Producer(s) | Van Dyke Parks | |||
Phil Ochs singles chronology | ||||
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"One Way Ticket Home" is a 1970 song by Phil Ochs, an American singer-songwriter best known for the protest songs he wrote in the 1960s.
"One Way Ticket Home" is the first song on Greatest Hits, which—despite its title—was a collection of new songs.[1] Musically, it signals a return by Ochs to his musical roots in country music and early rock and roll.[2]
In the song, Ochs announces that he wants to buy a "one-way ticket home". Inspired by a recent Elvis concert in Las Vegas, Ochs declares "Elvis Presley is the king/I was at his crowning." But something is wrong: "My life just flashed before my eyes/I must be drowning." Referring to the political climate in the United States, Ochs says he "would be in exile now/But everywhere's the same" and decides he wants a "one-way ticket home".[3][4]
References
- ↑ Schumacher, Michael (1996). There But for Fortune: The Life of Phil Ochs. New York: Hyperion. p. 226. ISBN 0-7868-6084-7.
- ↑ Schumacher, p. 224.
- ↑ Eliot, Marc (1989) [1979]. Death of a Rebel: A Biography of Phil Ochs. New York: Franklin Watts. pp. 189, 192–193. ISBN 0-531-15111-5.
- ↑ Schumacher, p. 223.
External links