HomeTown - Desire from the heart!

The lyrics for HomeTown were written one morning after us having a reunion with one of my mother’s ex-working colleagues after more than three decades! Yes, THREE decades, even though we live in the same city! 

We ran into each other during a shopping day when she suggested we could meet for a coffee, and she would bring her son, who I had met only once as a child when they were invited for lunch at our house.

Two weeks later, we managed to meet on a Saturday afternoon in an Italian restaurant. And this gathering was so odd, that it reminded us why we have never felt like home despite living in this country for almost four decades. And we have been in the same neighbourhood in Zurich for the last 20 years! 

One would think there is so much to talk about after three decades of silence. And anyone who knows us can assure that we are chatty, and we talk about all kinds of topics, but we had barely anything to say to each other. 

My mum's ex-working colleague's main topic was backbiting about her son's ex, the mother of her grandchild. And he, I don’t even know where to start and what to say. Well, what was supposed to be a modern match by two mothers turned into nothing because the guy's mind was everywhere but not where he was physically. Of course, he couldn’t remember us at all, because we had only met once and he was too young. I’m a bit older.

Long story short, an hour seemed like an entire day, and we were relieved that this awkward gathering was over. When we came back home I was so disappointed that I had to write down my feelings and the lyrics for HomeTown were born. It is so hard to make friends with people who don't speak the same language. It also made me wonder what’s the point of speaking several languages when people don’t understand you anyway. When they don't care to listen to anyone at all. It's always a monologue and not a dialogue.  

The next morning, I saw an IG story from an artist that I follow on Instagram, and it brought me to tears. He was sharing his negative feelings and emotions towards his city of Vienna when he was younger, and it confirmed that I wasn’t alone. There is nothing wrong with feeling what you are feeling. It’s not like I’m ungrateful, but when you feel lonely, lost, isolated and misplaced for decades, you just begin to question everything and everyone around you.

That’s why I strongly believe the following: Once a foreigner, always a foreigner. Once a refugee, always a refugee. HomeTown is a song dedicated to everyone who feels lost in this world. Especially now when so many people are forced to leave their birth town and start a new life in a foreign hometown because of war and other crises. 

Song description: The moment when you are forced to leave your birth town, you become homeless. And the non-ending, desperate search for a hometown overshadows your entire life. Especially when you end up in a foreign, narrow-minded country in which traditions, hospitality, generosity, compassion and kindness are nothing but meaningless words, and you have to constantly fight against bullying, discrimination and racism to survive!

HomeTown is dedicated to everyone who is suffering in silence while feeling unwelcomed, excluded, lost and lonely in a foreign country far away from home and family.