Mary Chapin Carpenter - Songs From Home Episode 59: Traveler's Prayer

Greetings everyone, welcome back to Songs From Home, episode 59: Traveler’s Prayer

This song is a bonus track on the vinyl version of The Dirt And The Stars. Our legendary producer Ethan Johns and incomparable drummer Jeremy Stacey took on amazing in tandem drumming for the track, and the version on One Night Lonely is just me and my lonesome. I’ve always loved changing up arrangements; this song lends itself to that kind of shape shifting.

In the before times, traveling the world was just a part of my job. How many days did I spend sitting in a far-from-home coffee shop, watching people go by, jotting down thoughts and observations in a beat up book that lived in my back pack? How many years did I take for granted the freedom that traveling gave me? Did I feel happy to be in the swim of the world and other days feel homesick and apart? And zooming out, who may be watching us from afar? Thursday’s incredible Mars landing of Perseverance has me thinking of the second verse:



I’m scanning the sky for signs that we’re not alone
Signals and messages bound for the twilight zone
Maybe they’re wondering
who keeps on waving down there

And looking back on this week, my thoughts are with all of the folks down in Texas and across the south east who have suffered so with winter weather related power outages, burst pipes, damage from storms, ice, sleet, freezing rain and cold, not to mention the pandemic…

Reciting the words as we’re yearning for home
When darkness has found us at the end of the road
Nobody’s hurting and nobody’s cold anywhere
In a traveler’s prayer

I keep that traveler’s prayer close to me.

There are many ways to help, if you able, by heading to organizations like the Red Cross and for pets Operation Kindness as a start…

Until the next time, stay well, stay strong, wear your double mask, carry on, stay warm and #staymighty !

#travelersprayer #thedirtandthestars #marslanding #nasa #nasaperseverence #songsfromhome #ethanjohns #jeremystacey #blueridgemountains #home #virginia
#souldog #angus #whitekitty #patienceismysuperpower #staythefuckhome #weareallconnected