Dying or Dreaming? The Meaning of “Almost Home” by Craig Morgan

January 17, 2024 4:30 pm

Was the old man dying or dreaming? That is the $64,000 question raised by “Almost Home,” the 2002 country hit by Craig Morgan. Co-written by Morgan and Kerry Kurt Phillips, the song paints multiple pictures with words. Let’s look at the meaning behind the first Top 10 hit of Craig Morgan’s career.

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The Setup

The singer discovers a man in the freezing rain under some newspapers and fears the worst. As he checks on the homeless person lying by the garbage cans, he finds he is not dead.

He had plastic bags wrapped ’round his shoes
He was covered with the evening news
Had a pair of old wool socks on his hands
The bank sign was flashing five below
It was freezing rain an’ spittin’ snow
He was curled up behind some garbage cans
I was afraid that he was dead
I gave him a gentle shake
When he opened up his eyes
I said, “Old man, are you okay?”

The Setting

The man shares his vision of a faraway, better place and situation. Climbing a tree, swimming in a creek, and just walking down an old dirt road was where he’d rather be. He was brought back to his cold, lonely reality as he was awakened.

He said, I just climbed out of a cottonwood tree
I was runnin’ from some honey bees
Drip dryin’ in the summer breeze
After jumpin’ into Calico Creek
I was walkin’ down an old dirt road
Past a field of hay that had just been mowed
Man, I wish you’d just left me alone
‘Cause I was almost home

The Past

The man then shares details more personal. Not only the places, but the time. His mother and father are calling for him.

Then he said, I was just comin’ round the barn
‘Bout the time he grabbed my arm
When I heard momma holler, ‘Son, hurry up‘
I was close enough for my own nose
To smell fresh cobbler on the stove
And I saw daddy loadin’ up the truck
Cane poles on the tailgate
Bobbers blowin’ in the wind
Since July of ’55
That’s as close as I’ve been

Now, the chorus has context. These aren’t just places. These are childhood memories.

Just One More Time

Suppose we could return to our youth and spend a few minutes with our departed loved ones. The singer offers help to the homeless man, but he doesn’t want it. He wants to be with his father, casting a line.

I said, “Old man, you’re gonna freeze to death
Let me drive you to a mission”
He said, “Boy, if you’d left me alone
Right now, I’d be fishin’

The Backstory

Morgan shared the song’s origin in his 2022 memoir God, Family, Country. “I got the idea for “Almost Home” on the road, appropriately enough.” He was on the phone with his wife, Karen, who was not happy about how much he was traveling away from home. “This is temporary. Just relax. It won’t be long. I’m almost home.”

He got off the phone and started thinking. “You know? That is not a bad idea, that line. Almost home.” Morgan met with songwriter Kerry Kurt Phillips to work on the idea, “We wrote probably three or four times on the song in different directions, without really getting it. The song was there, but not there. Almost home… almost.”

Then, one day, Morgan was driving into Nashville and saw a guy with a sign: “WILL WORK FOR FOOD.”

“He was an older guy, in very bad shape, at least from what I saw. I met up with Kerry a short time later and mentioned it. We looked at each other. That was the key to the song. Until then, we didn’t know it was about a homeless guy.”

Everything clicked then. They finished the song during that session.

I just climbed out of a cottonwood tree
I was runnin’ from some honey bees
Drip dryin’ in the summer breeze
After jumpin’ into Calico Creek
I was walkin’ down an old dirt road
Past a field of hay that had just been mowed
Man, I wish you’d just left me alone
‘Cause I was almost home (almost home)
Man, I wish you’d just left me alone
I was almost home

Morgan Nearly Lost a Friend

Unknown to Morgan, Kerry’s publisher took the song and played it for Trace Adkins. The singer put a hold on it, or at least he thought he did. Morgan had no idea that Adkins wanted to do it. And Adkins had no idea Morgan had written it. When Adkins heard Morgan’s recording, he asked how he had heard about the song.

“Are you joking?” Morgan asked. “Do I look like I’m joking?” said Adkins. “He didn’t,” Morgan said before getting his friend up to speed. “He calmed down when he realized I’d written it and hadn’t known anything about a hold.”

The Conclusion’s up to You

Was the old man dying or dreaming? The song works either way. It was Morgan’s first big hit, earning a BMI Song of the Year Award in 2002. Morgan re-recorded the song in 2023 with multi-genre singer/songwriter Jelly Roll and released it as a single from his EP Enlisted.

Phillips sums it all up. “A lot of people ask me if the guy almost died … was he dying or dreaming?” It’s funny how people have different interpretations. That’s the neat thing about a song, and I think understatement is the key to a good song … leaving enough room for the listener to draw their own conclusion … so I never answer them on that. I guess it’s up to the listener.”

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images