248:"Homesick" was written during a time of hardship for the band—nine people close to MercyMe's band members had died in a short span of time. Lead singer Bart Millard initially wrote the chorus to "Homesick" following a funeral service for two infants that died in utero, but did not finish the song, as didnāt want to fake his way through writing the song. However, following the death of Millard's brother-in-law, Chris, in a car accident, Millard finished the song so as to play it at Chris's funeral. Millard and the rest of MercyMe intended the song only to be played once—at Chris's funeral—but Millard's mother-in-law encouraged them to record it. Although the record they were going to release,
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addresses us that are left here. I donāt think as a
Christian that itās right for me to say, āI wish you couldāve stayed here,ā because truthfully, weāre getting the raw end of the deal if we really believe what we say that heaven is as great as we want it to be. The whole idea is that weāre the ones who have to wait.ā Millard has also noted, "The difference with āHomesickā is that it talks about those who are stuck around here after someone passes away. When you lose somebody, you learn what being homesick is really about."
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chart for the chart week of
November 13, 2004, advancing to number 6 four weeks later. The song held that spot for three weeks before advancing to its peak position of number 3 for the chart week of January 1, 2005. "Homesick" dropped to number 11 the next week, but returned to the top ten and, after
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Christian AC charts, spending twenty-eight weeks on both. On the R&R Christian AC Indicator chart the song peaked at number 1, spending a total of five weeks at the top spot and 25 weeks on the chart in total. On the R&R Soft AC/INSPO chart, "Homesick" spent one week at the top spot and
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referred to the song as the 'sequel' to "I Can Only
Imagine." Regarding these comparisons, Millard said "āI Can Only Imagineā took the focus off of what you are going through and was comforting because it put the focus on where they were going... āHomesickā is the opposite because it completely
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spending two weeks at number 5 and number 7, respectively, "Homesick" spent ten consecutive weeks in the top five of the chart. After dropping out of the top five, the song spent nine more weeks on the chart before dropping out. In all, the song spent a total of thirty weeks on the chart.
366:, commenting that " is a delicate ballad about being apart." Russ Breimeier of The Fish noted, "The beautiful ballad 'Homesick' is both similar to and an improvement on 'Imagine', the difference in how it focuses on persevering on earth in anticipation of heaven". Kim Jones of
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chart, "Homesick" debuted at number 32 for the chart week of
February 12, 2005. The song spent seventeen more weeks on the chart before reaching its peak of number 9 for the chart week of June 18, 2005. In all, the song spent twenty-six weeks on the chart.
193:, the song is an expression of grief and longing that was written after the band experienced the deaths of nine people they were connected to in a short period of time. "Homesick" was included on MercyMe's third studio album
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commented, "'Homesick' is the true gem on this release," also opining, "Should it be a radio release, I won't be a bit surprised to see it in the number one spot for many, many weeks".
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2005 year-end Hot
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and the time it takes to get there, as well as anger, confusion, and brokenness. The song is set in the key of
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with a length of three minutes and forty-one seconds. Lyrically, the song is an expression of grief, pondering
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Some comparisons have been made between the lyrical content of "Homesick" and MercyMe's 2001 single "
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of 72 beats per minute. Millard's vocal range in the song spans from C
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Critical reception to "Homesick" was generally positive.
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and was released as the second single from that album.
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378:"Homesick" debuted at number 35 on the
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1102:"Adult Contemporary Archive (6/18/05)"
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1253:from the original on 17 August 2011
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1149:from the original on 25 August 2011
977:"Christian Songs Archive (1/1/05)"
796:Nentwig, Wendy Lee (20 May 2004).
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1659:Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
1051:from the original on 30 July 2012
867:"Undone, Christian Music Reviews"
814:from the original on 3 April 2012
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738:"MercyMe - Homesick Sheet Music"
298:Problems playing this file? See
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881:from the original on 3 May 2012
1353:Bless Me Indeed (Jabez's Song)
1205:"Hot Adult Contemporary Songs"
1133:"Year-end Hot Christian Songs"
759:Jenison, David (23 May 2006).
648:Jenison, David (24 May 2004).
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1680:It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
1277:MercyMe "Homesick" live video
1237:"Decade-end Hot Christian AC"
583:Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
902:"MercyMe - Undone CD Review"
740:. Musicnotes.com. 2005-05-23
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1666:God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
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835:"Undone - MercyMe (Review)"
798:"Meet & Greet: MercyMe"
761:"MercyMe: Breathing Deeply"
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693:Faith & Fame - MercyMe
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1215:Prometheus Global Media
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448:Christian AC Indicator
1673:The Little Drummer Boy
1432:In the Blink of an Eye
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164:In the Blink of an Eye
72:Contemporary Christian
18:2004 single by MercyMe
1480:All That Is Within Me
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1444:Coming Up to Breathe
955:"Homesick - MercyMe"
338:." David Jenison of
1637:Other charted songs
1217:. November 26, 2005
918:on 27 December 2009
475:Hot Christian Songs
385:Hot Christian Songs
319:and has a moderate
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219:Hot Christian Songs
209:Radio & Records
1574:Welcome to the New
1360:I Can Only Imagine
716:"Undone - MercyMe"
515:Adult Contemporary
432:Chart (2004-2005)
396:Adult Contemporary
352:Critical reception
336:I Can Only Imagine
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135:singles chronology
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1736:Rock ballads
1726:2004 singles
1652:Silent Night
1645:O Holy Night
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1504:Finally Home
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1454:So Long Self
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1418:Here with Me
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1343:Almost There
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1257:25 September
1255:. Retrieved
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1219:. Retrieved
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1189:22 September
1187:. Retrieved
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1042:Curb Records
1038:Mikecurb.com
1037:
992:22 September
990:. Retrieved
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959:. Retrieved
922:30 September
920:. Retrieved
916:the original
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900:Jones, Kim.
895:
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146:Here with Me
114:Bart Millard
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1694:Sleigh Ride
1490:God with Us
1332:Discography
957:. Billboard
697:INO Records
258:Composition
127:Pete Kipley
122:Producer(s)
100:INO Records
1721:2004 songs
1710:Categories
1382:Spoken For
1372:Spoken For
1221:6 November
718:. Allmusic
624:References
300:media help
244:Background
179:"Homesick"
24:"Homesick"
1533:Beautiful
1497:You Reign
1461:Hold Fast
1242:Billboard
1174:Billboard
1138:Billboard
1107:Billboard
1076:Billboard
1055:24 August
982:Billboard
961:17 August
907:About.com
744:17 August
722:17 August
610:Billboard
604:Position
580:Billboard
567:Billboard
554:Billboard
548:Position
512:Billboard
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471:Billboard
437:Position
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368:About.com
347:Reception
238:Billboard
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215:Billboard
1425:Homesick
1251:Archived
1183:Archived
1147:Archived
1046:Archived
879:Archived
871:The Fish
840:Allmusic
812:Archived
775:Archived
691:(2007).
664:Archived
409:and the
358:Allmusic
276:Homesick
155:Homesick
58:Recorded
50:Released
1613:Even If
1591:Greater
1321:singles
1318:MercyMe
1282:YouTube
689:MercyMe
526:R&R
500:R&R
458:R&R
445:R&R
412:R&R
391:On the
317:F major
187:MercyMe
168:(2005)
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133:MercyMe
34:MercyMe
1408:Undone
420:Charts
363:Undone
313:Heaven
309:ballad
251:Undone
204:Undone
196:Undone
78:Length
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30:Single
1603:Lifer
1584:Shake
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484:U.S.
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321:tempo
185:band
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