Hey child, things are looking down.
That’s okay, you don’t need to win anyways.
I initially thought Patrick Watson’s “The Great Escape” was a song about suicide, but it clearly isn’t once you read the lyrics. It is about escaping from your chaotic life and getting away (perhaps to nature) and taking a deep breath and letting it all out. You feel a release. Realize that not everything has to be perfect in life and that these moments of escape are something to treasure.
This song shares a similar theme with Christopher Cross’ Sailing: Escape, it’s good for the soul. In “The Great Escape” the narrator goes for a drive, Cross goes sailing. Later, Bruce Springsteen will go for a ride on his motorcycle.
This song is exceptional due to the minimalism of the piano and voice recording. It sounds almost as if it was recorded live on an upright piano extemporaneously. Just piano with just his delicate voice is a perfect mixture for a song like this were Watson is trying to talk about one emotion using not that many words. The piano playing is functional and fits the melody well. Production did well by leaving the song alone.
The Great Escape Lyrics
Bad day, looking for a way home,
Looking for the great escape.
Gets in his car and drives away,
Far from all the things that we are.
Puts on a smile and breathes it in
And breathes it out, he says,
Bye bye bye to all of the noise.
Oh, he says, bye bye bye to all of the noise.
Doo doo doo doo doo noo noo
Doo doo doo doo doo noo noo noo noo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo noo noo noo
Hey child, things are looking down.
That’s okay, you don’t need to win anyways.
Don’t be afraid, just eat up all the gray
And it will fade all away.
Don’t let yourself fall down.
Doo doo doo doo doo noo noo
Doo doo doo doo doo noo noo noo noo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo doo doo noo noo noo
Bad day, looking for the great escape.
He says, bad day, looking for the great escape.
On a bad day, looking for the great escape,
The great escape.
Songwriters: Watson Patrick