"No Roots" by Alice Merton

I feel like something bouncy tonight....and this song fits that description. Alice Merton wrote "No Roots" to work out some angst she had leftover from her childhood. She moved like a dozen times when she was a kid. Kind of reminds me of my childhood. I'm an Army brat and as such, I moved around quite a bit. Every three years, in fact....well, we were someplace for 6 years once but that's because we didn't move with my dad that time. They let us stay at our previous base because he was going to be deployed pretty much the entire time he was stationed at the next base. I used to hate it, but now that I'm older, I've got that anxious feeling. What do they call it? Wanderlust....

I've been in SA for exactly 5 years now and, don't get me wrong, I like it....I just wish I could escape it every once in a while. I used to fantasize about the nomadic lifestyle. Still do, in fact. The Husband watches all these yacht videos and jokes that we should buy one and sail the world. I would do it, though, if I knew we could kept our son fed and cared for. Some people actually do that - they sail the world and make YouTube videos or set up Patreon sites to make enough money to survive. That wouldn't be too bad. If my writing made any money, that would be ideal. Of course, we used to watch a lot of RV videos and he would say the same thing. We still don't own an RV or a yacht.

Enough about me, let's dissect this song. The lyrics remind me of something a bird would sing. "I've got no roots/But my home was never on the ground." Essentially, I think Merton is saying that it's hard not having one place to call home but the memories from her years of traveling - and the fantasizing she did while on the road - is what grounds her. I can relate. Some of my favorite memories I have are of playing pretend or daydreaming while we drove cross country. But some of the saddest ones I have are of leaving friends behind. It's bittersweet - a new adventure but you're still leaving part of your life in each place. "Digging holes" if you will. Alice Merton wrote the song to cheer herself up and it definitely has that upbeat-ness about it. I love to sing along with the chorus, mostly because it's fun to do that coo'ing sound when she sings "roots."

The video is a typical low-budget indie video. Alice Merton is in a trendy apartment, looking beautiful and singing/dancing. She moves to different parts of the apartment and the cinematographer plays with different lighting effects but it's nothing to write home about.

"No Roots" Video