To Be Free – English Lyrics

• By: Passenger
• Album: Runaway

Lyrics & Translation

Embark on a heartfelt journey with Passenger's "To Be Free," a song that masterfully combines English storytelling with rich indie-folk melodies. This deeply personal narrative, based on his grandparents' refugee experience, offers a beautiful way to engage with the language through powerful lyrics about resilience, migration, and the universal quest for freedom. Its clear narrative and emotional depth make it a compelling piece for language learners to explore and appreciate the nuances of English expression.

[English]

Vineland New Jersey

Farmland stretching

...

Far as the eye can see

Not much down there but

Sun scorched pastures in 1953

The war was over and they came searching

...

For a place to be

Left the Rheinland they lost their homeland and all their family

Like feathers on the ocean breeze

They went spinning and tumbling across the sea

Never know where they'll come down

Or who'll they be

Like Heather on the hillside

They where bruised and they where battered by the breeze

Searching for a place to be free

Sunburnt summer frostbite Winter

Kids were plainly dressed

Left the farmhouse when he was old enough and

Headed out west, from California

to southern Africa, and all the way to France

And on to England to meet my mother in 1981

A feather on the ocean breeze

He went spinning and tumbling across the sea

Never knowing when he'd come down

Or who he'd be

Like Heather on the hillside

He was bruised and he was battered by the breeze

Searching for a place to be free

Oh like a seed that is flying in the

wind in search of water, soil and sun

And the birds and the bees to have it all along

Now here I am 33 years down 2017

Seen the Rheinland I've been to vineland I'm a feather on the breeze

...