Nothing can inspire a song quite like heartbreak, and Simon & Garfunkel’s iconic 1966 track, “Homeward Bound”, is no exception. The softly sung track depicts a narrator who is desperately homesick, wishing they were “home where my thoughts’ escapin’, home where my music’s playin’, home where my love lies waitin’ for me.” The wistful lyrics are just vague enough that a listener could insert any thought, music, or love into the picture, and it would make sense. But for songwriter Paul Simon, his thoughts, music, and love were swirling around one woman in particular: Kathy Chitty.
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Simon met Chitty through the Railway Hotel, where the musician had become a regular performer, and Chitty worked as a ticket taker. After watching Simon play for the first time, Chitty went backstage to his dressing room to meet him. Marc Eliot, author of Paul Simon: A Life, describes what happened next as “young love at first sight,” which they both fell into “fast, hard, and deep.” Still, Simon’s most important passion in his life was his work, which was calling him to London, miles away from Essex, where Chitty and the Railway Hotel were. Ultimately, Simon chose his music.
Per Eliot’s biography, Simon wrote the beginnings of “Homeward Bound” while missing Chitty during a post-show commute from Liverpool to London. The lyrics convey his doubts as to whether he prioritized the right passion. “All my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity, like emptiness in harmony. I need someone to comfort me.”
The Railway Stations and Lost Loves That Inspired “Homeward Bound”
Paul Simon continued to work on “Homeward Bound” as he performed around the U.K., his thoughts often drifting to the girlfriend he left behind in Essex. During this time, Simon became acquainted with Geoff Speed, who booked Simon at his 150-capacity folk club. Speed also hosted Simon for about a week at his parents’ home and would later recall that Simon and his father developed a close rapport.
“I was working during the day,” Speed later recalled, per Laura Jackson’s Paul Simon: The Definitive Biography. “But my father, Arthur, was only working part-time, so he and Paul spent a lot of time together. My father was a Methodist, and Paul is Jewish, so they found a lot to talk about. They really enjoyed each other’s company. Father told me that Paul spent much of his time writing a song, but Paul didn’t specify to either of us which sign it was. As it turns out, it was probably ‘Homeward Bound’.”
“Homeward Bound” continues to be a beloved feature of Simon & Garfunkel’s catalogue. The 1966 release, which appears on the folk duo’s third album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 9 in the U.K., No. 2 in Canada, and it topped the charts in New Zealand.
Photo by Ivan Keeman/Redferns
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