One Way Ticket Home
"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" | |
|---|---|
| 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" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional copy of "One Way Ticket Home" | ||||
| Single by Phil Ochs | ||||
| B-side | "My Kingdom for a Car" | |||
| Released | 1972 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 2:39 | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Phil Ochs | |||
| Producer(s) | Van Dyke Parks | |||
| Phil Ochs singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"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.