All my bags are packed.

February 5, 2011 5:48 AM

Making a mix tape: Need songs about moving away from home for the very first time. Any suggestions?

One of my good friends just graduated from college and is now moving to the South. I'm attempting to make her a mix tape filled with songs about moving away from home/growing up. I'm looking for songs along the lines of "Leaving on a Jet Plane" with a little bit of "Free Bird" thrown in as well. Her tastes tend toward classic rock/indie/songs from the '80s and '90s ... or basically anything. Whatcha got?

As always, thanks in advance!

posted by gypsyhymns to media & arts (39 answers total)

When in doubt, The The's This Will Be the Day. Always the best "you're doing a new thing and it's scary and amazing" song.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 5:53 AM on February 5, 2011

Dixie Chicks, "Wide Open Spaces."
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:55 AM on February 5, 2011 [3 favorites]

"She's Leaving Home", by the Beatles.
posted by pompomtom at 5:58 AM on February 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Winding Road by Bonnie Somerville. This is a great "I'm moving on" song.
posted by WaspEnterprises at 6:23 AM on February 5, 2011

Gladys Knight and the Pips, Midnight Train to Georgia!
Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sweet Home Alabama (with Southern Man for balance if you like)
Paul Simon, Graceland
Grateful Dead, Truckin'
Led Zeppelin, Ramble On
Allman Brothers, Ramblin Man
U2, Where the Streets Have No Name
CSNY, Southern Cross
Neil Young, Long May You Run
Duran Duran, My Own Way
Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway (don't judge!)
Natasha Bedingfield, Unwritten (okay, seriously, please don't judge)
Celine Dion, A New Day Has Come (I think there's something wrong with me)
posted by argonauta at 6:29 AM on February 5, 2011 [2 favorites]

"Chartered Trips" Husker Du ?
posted by stuartmm at 6:31 AM on February 5, 2011

Driving Away from Home by It's Immaterial
posted by arcticseal at 6:31 AM on February 5, 2011

David's Last Summer by Pulp.
posted by greycap at 6:42 AM on February 5, 2011

"Moving Out (Anthony's Song)" - Billy Joel
posted by supercres at 6:48 AM on February 5, 2011

Leaving Home by Jebadiah was huge the Summer I moved out of home.
posted by Trivia Newton John at 6:56 AM on February 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

I love M. Ward's "Helicopter." (Helicopter send your long rope down / let me sway into the sunset / I have done all I can do in this town)

The Weakerthans' "Left and Leaving" is great for this purpose. "Aside," from the same album, is also solid.

"My Valuable Hunting Knife" by Guided By Voices fits the indie aesthetic and the era you requested, and is about wanting to start a new life, with your, ahem, you get the idea.

From hip-hop, the Blue Scholars' "Freewheelin'" has a refrain that would make it fit. The Clipse's "Hello New World" may fit in some ways, and hopefully not in others.

"Journey of the Featherless" by Cloud Cult is also a favorite.

Finally, let me suggest "(It's a) Departure" by the Long Winters. Besides being about leaving, there's also a healthy bit of nostalgia there. "I like the old days. But not all of the old days. Only the *good* old days."
posted by jeffmshaw at 7:05 AM on February 5, 2011

DJ Shadow has an instrumental track called "You Can't Go Home Again". It's very upbeat.
posted by lakersfan1222 at 7:08 AM on February 5, 2011

Please please please check out A Place Called Home by Kim Richey, I can't think of a better song for a mix like this. A little sad, but really beautiful. It might tend a bit country-ish, but definitely has an indie/singer-songwriter vibe.

It would have a hallowed place on any mix tape I'd make in your position.
posted by dnesan at 7:16 AM on February 5, 2011

"Welcome to Paradise" by Green Day. Bwa ha ha.
posted by Because at 8:03 AM on February 5, 2011

"Letting Go" by Suzy Bogguss
posted by jdroth at 8:24 AM on February 5, 2011

Perhaps a little more from the melancholy-but-still-hopeful side, Suzy Bogguss' Letting Go.
posted by jlkr at 8:32 AM on February 5, 2011

foo on simultaneous posting! (I previewed, really I did.)
posted by jlkr at 8:33 AM on February 5, 2011

"Learning to Fly" by Tom Petty may fit.
posted by hungrysquirrels at 8:53 AM on February 5, 2011

A Little Rain from Bone Machine.
posted by pianomover at 8:54 AM on February 5, 2011

The Mountain Goats - "Woke Up New"

I listened to it all the time during an especially difficult period at college.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 9:27 AM on February 5, 2011

I think "Circle Game" is pretty apt.
posted by Sara C. at 9:29 AM on February 5, 2011

Lucky Boys Confusion: City Lights

Dexter Freebish: Leaving Town
posted by sleepingcbw at 9:39 AM on February 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

America by Simon & Garfunkel
posted by Acton at 9:55 AM on February 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

"Wildlife" by Utopia. One of my favorite songs.
posted by mintcake! at 10:14 AM on February 5, 2011

(Sorry, that first link should go here.)
posted by mintcake! at 10:16 AM on February 5, 2011

Murray McLauchlan's Child's Song. David Bromberg does a very nice version of it (even better than Tom Rush's, IMO) on his Reckless Abandon LP.
posted by bricoleur at 11:00 AM on February 5, 2011

"London" by the Smiths
"Smalltown Boy" Bronski Beat
posted by Fiery Jack at 12:51 PM on February 5, 2011

Jimmy Cliff- You Can Get It If You Really Want
posted by bonobothegreat at 12:54 PM on February 5, 2011

Crowded House, Distant Sun: "Still so young to travel so far / Old enough to know who you are / Wise enough to carry the scars without any blame"

Paul Weller, Uh Huh, Oh Yeh (simultaneously about acknowledging your roots and starting a new phase of your life): "And in my mind I saw the place / As each memory returned to trace / Dear reminders of who I am / The very roots upon which I stand / And there they were, for all to see, / My long-lost used-to-be's / And all the dreams I had to dream / Were really something, not make-believe."

The Divine Comedy, Tonight We Fly: "Tonight we fly, over the mountains, the beach, and the sea / Over the friends that we've known, and those that we now know, and those that we've yet to meet / And when we die, oh will we be that disappointed or sad / if heaven doesn't exist? What will we have missed? / This life is the best we've ever had!"
posted by scody at 1:33 PM on February 5, 2011

"Young Turks" by Rod Stewart
posted by Fiat124 at 3:29 PM on February 5, 2011

Might not be a good fit but On Your Porch came to mind.
posted by robotnixon at 4:26 PM on February 5, 2011

Freedom Overspill by Steve Winwood. If you like the 80s.
posted by bluesky78987 at 8:21 PM on February 5, 2011

"Away From Home" - Klark Kent
posted by SisterHavana at 10:52 PM on February 5, 2011

Steve Forbert - So God to Feel Good Again
Billy Joel - Movin' Out and The Great Suburban Showdown
Elton John - Goodbye Yellowbrick Road
Rickie Lee Jones - Pirates (So Long Lonely Avenue)
posted by Paris Elk at 4:13 AM on February 6, 2011

Butterfly Boucher - Another White Dash
The Unlovables - Disaster
posted by nicebookrack at 1:24 PM on February 6, 2011

Not the right song if you're looking for upbeat, but how about Sugar Mountain by Neil Young.
posted by doctord at 6:45 AM on February 8, 2011

Thanks so much! I ended up with too many songs that I wanted to include, so I made two mix tapes ... and she loved them. Success.
posted by gypsyhymns at 11:52 AM on February 8, 2011

gypsyhyms, I'd love to see the track listings, and I hope you'll post them. So glad your friend liked your mixes. What a thoughtful gift!
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:26 AM on February 9, 2011

Party in the U.S.A.

Dammit, wish I'd seen this sooner :)
posted by jitterbug perfume at 9:18 AM on February 15, 2011