Peter, Paul & Mary - Leaving On A Jet Plane

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go
I'm standin' here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye

But the dawn is breakin', it's early morn
The taxi's waitin', he's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go

'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go

There's so many times I've let you down
So many times I've played around
I'll tell you now, they don't mean a thing

Every place I go, I think of you
Every song I sing, I sing for you
When I come back I'll wear your wedding ring

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go

'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time, oh, let me kiss you
Then close your eyes and I'll be on my way

Dream about the days to come
When I won't have to leave alone
About the times that I won't have to say ...

Oh, kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go

'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go

And I'm leaving on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go

But I'm leaving on a jet plane
(Ah ah ah ah)
Leaving on a jet plane
(Ah ah ah ah)
Leaving on a jet plane
(Ah ah ah ah)
Leaving on a jet plane
(Ah ah ah ah)
Leaving on a jet plane
(Ah ah ah ah)
Leaving on a jet plane
(Ah ah ah ah)
Leaving on a jet plane
(Ah ah ah ah)
Leaving on a jet plane
(Ah ah ah ah)
(Leaving) On a jet plane

I get emotional everytime I hear this song. When John Denver wrote this song in 1967, he was sitting at an airport, not so much that he was missing someone but longing for someone to love him like that. The poor dude really did leave us in a plane when he died in an airplane crash (piloted by himself).

When ever I hear this song, I always thing about the time when I was leaving St. Cloud for the last time. I was sitting in the small little jet plane at the St. Cloud airport. It was summer and only my closest of friends were there to see me of. I was looking out of the window as the plane was taking of and I almost cried. I was sad to leave such a wonderful place but also excited about finally going home to Malaysia.

I've been listening to a lot of Peter, Paul & Mary songs lately. Their songs are really haunting. Their lyrics really strike a cord with me. I wonder why I like all these melodrama folk songs. When I was young, my mother used to listen to these on the radio. When I was young, my family used to drive long distances. We would listen to the radio and it was always songs like these that was playing over Radio 4 (now Traxx). Later when I was in the US, I studied music history and I learned about folk music. One of the first few things I did was to go out and buy a folk music CD.

Folk music that was around in the 60's and 70's had the most emotive lyrics. When the Americans were going of to Vietnam and protesting the war, that generation came out with a lot of anti-war songs. I still find these songs relevant today. Songs that were written so many years ago still ring true. They sang about love, family and doing the right thing.

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time, oh, let me kiss you
Then close your eyes and I'll be on my way