Music Review: Jake Miller "First Flight Home"

Jake Miller

First Flight Home

Album: N/A

Year: 2014

               Jake Miller decides it’s time to come home in the trying “First Flight Home.”

                 A stoked guitar opens the single, setting a chilled tone. His longtime crush was holding his hand. They were watching a baseball game. She put his head on her shoulder and they were laughing. He woke up with a jolt. He touched the right side of the bed and it was empty. The emotions were real. He gets dressed in a daze, replaying the dream over in his head. The dreams have been recurring since he moved out to Miami a few years ago. Lately, they’ve been once a week. He picks up his phone and starts looking for flights. (“Yeah/I hope you still remember what I look like/I haven't seen you in a minute/Last night I had the kind of dream that you just don't wanna wake up from and that 's 'cause you were in it/So this morning when I woke up it felt more like a nightmare ‘cause I rolled over and I thought that you'd be right there/But, nope I'm just laying here alone on my own wishing I was on the first flight home.”)

            In the chorus, he sends her a picture of his ticket and captions it with “soon.” He plans to spend every minute with her. Five years has been too long. He saw on his the phone there’s supposed to be thunderstorm. Even then, he’ll wait it out for the next available flight. (“I'll be home in no time/I promise when I touch down it'll be like I never left/Singing, I'll be home in no time/By the way check your phone cause I just sent you a text saying/Hey, I've been gone forever, I'm coming home tonight/We'll be back together, this plane gon' fly/I can't predict the weather, but you should know that I/I'll be on the first flight home, I'll be on the first flight home.”)

              He drives to the airport with a couple suitcases. It’s midnight. He has plenty of tiem to check in.  He wants to make it there by 4 am, at least. His first stop is going to be her house, where they said goodbye. It’s happening. It’s real. A huge burden has been lifted off his shoulders. (“And I bet if I left right now, I'd prolly' make it to you by the morning/So I’m packing up my bags hopping on this red eye/I'll be there before your eyes even open/Hurry up and tell the pilot to take off/So we could pick up right where we left off/I can't believe it, I’m finally on my way/Feels so damn good to be able to say.”)

          The chorus is sung again.

           In the bridge, he doesn’t need a GPS to get around. He remembers the way perfectly. He sees the neighbor across the street finally took out the cotton tree. He hated it. It always bothered his allergies. Her house still looks the same, though. Two short knocks on the door. It was his signal to her that he was there. From the door, he can hear her hurried footsteps. Her face is wet with tears and she can’t speak at first. (“I'll be coming back tonight (yeah)/Keep your head up to the sky/Cause I'll be on the first flight home, I'll be on the first flight home/Yeah and now I pull up to your driveway/Been a while since I've been on this block/And now I walk up to your front door/I know you recognize that same knock/I hear you running down the stairs now/Tears running down your face/Then you open up that front door and I look at you and say.”)

           In the final chorus, he says he plans on staying. He’ll figure the rest out later. Right now, he wants to be with her. (“Hey, I know I've been gone forever but I’m finally home tonight/Now that I’m here, I'm never leaving your side/I told you I was coming, sorry it took so long/I was on that first flight home, I was on the first flight home/Hey, I've been gone forever (yeah), I'm coming home tonight/We'll be back together, this plane gon' fly/I can't predict the weather, but you should know that I/I'll be on the first flight home, I'll be on the first flight home/I'll be coming back tonight/Keep your head up to the sky/’Cause I'll be on the first flight home, I'll be on the first flight home.”)

             Miller’s puffed-up rap smirks as lives in his fantasy world. Just like him, he thinks she’s pining away.  They talk all the time and she hasn’t mentioned anyone. Of course it means she’s going to want him back immediately and without any real discussion.

         Rap is such an odd choice for the single. It simply doesn’t fit. His delivery twists the lyrics to a much more self-centered point of view.

       The disappointing “First Flight Home” would’ve made such a sweet, sensitive guitar ballad.