The perfect song for... Coming Home

Here you have your own bed, and you’re surrounded by your own history. And equally important: you know where everything is, the coffee machine, the cups, the dustbin, the towels, the booze. Homecoming also has a philosophical element to it: a return to your own identity. Home doesn’t have to be the most fabulous place on Earth, but it’s yours; you are instinctively drawn to defend it, with or without its secret pleasures and public problems. 

And then comes that moment where you start to unpack and put on some music. What do you pick? What’s the first song? What’s the most appropriate song? Something soothing, something familiar? Or something you heard in that foreign place that you’ve just visited? Or, if you are a CD or record collector, maybe something new that you’ve bought during your trip? Something Italian? Something Mozambican? Something American? A tune from the Karoo?

In this podcast, journalists and writers Fred de Vries and Tim Cohen are joined by someone who spends a lot of her time on the road: Kerry Hiles, singer with Misery Loves Company. As a lot of musicians do, Hiles knows about travelling and returning home, and she has chosen some fabulous songs by South African and American songwriters.

As usual, we also choose the perfect song for a homecoming. 

Will it be one that puts us at ease, or one that extends our travels a bit longer. Let us know your thoughts, preferences, songs we left out and how you celebrate your return to safe and familiar musically.



This week’s selection consists of:

Coming Home’ by Stuart Reece

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcAm3bigCFc

‘Say Africa’ by Dave Goldblum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcAm3bigCFc

‘When the Cookie Jar is Empty’ by Michael Franks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTQeKESR_AA

‘Under the Milky Way’ by The Church

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWxJEIz7sSA

‘Back Home’ by Golden Earring

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8tBX5AMJKk

‘Sweet Home Alabama’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GxWmSVv-cY

‘To Live is to Fly’ by Steve Earle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6TqEsSz9qc

‘Like a Rolling Stone’ by Bob Dylan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Kv0vF41Bc

‘Paradise’ by Coldplay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G4isv_Fylg

You can listen and subscribe to ThePerfectSongFor… podcast about the perfect song on Spotify and Apple Music. Full versions of the songs are on Spotify and Apple playlists.

Contact the hosts of the podcast or email us your suggestions and alternatives at [email protected] 

You can also follow the hosts on X: @perfectsongfor; Insta: #perfectsongfor  Tim Cohen is the business editor of Daily Maverick. Fred de Vries is an author, writer, journalist and South Africa correspondent for Elsevier Magazine and De Groene Amsterdammer. He writes regular music columns for Platenblad in the Netherlands and Vrye Weekblad in South Africa.

The full playlist is available here  

Comments, suggestions, and feedback here:
[email protected]

Patreon here.

Kerry’s gig guide is available here. DM