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James Keelaghan's Somewhere Ahead just came up on the iTunes rotation. Simple, brief, and lovely. First verse:

Somewhere ahead, when our wheels have stopped rolling,

When the tires bite the gravel and travelling's through,

Somewhere ahead, there'll be clean sheets and linen;

Somewhere ahead, there is rest and there's you.

Follow link to iTunes Store for a clip that gives the melody of the whole verse.

I like James Keelaghan's songs a lot. He's probably best known to American audiences as the guy who wrote "Cold Missouri Waters" (my favorite song from Cry, Cry, Cry), which is how I first heard of him. He's released at least nine albums over the past fifteen years, most of which are now available in the iTunes Store.

Now I'm tempted to (but won't) put together a playlist of Melancholy Traveler folksongs, or maybe Itinerant Musician songs. Fred Small's "Willie's Song" jumps to mind, and Gordon Bok's "Wild Birds," and I have a vague idea there are particularly relevant Stan Rogers and Bill Staines songs.

If we extend it to non-musician travelers, there's John McCutcheon's "Cup of Coffee." And James Gordon's "Frobisher Bay" (just to round out the entry with another Canadian folksinger). (Added later: I guess this verges on the general Homesick Songs category, which there are zillions of examples of, so perhaps best to go back to itinerant musicians per se.)

Anyway, no time, must get back to magazine stuff. But feel free to suggest other songs on similar themes.