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 FeatureClass
 
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 LeavingTheNestSong
 
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 It's a situation that we all encounter at least once in our lives, and more likely several times: the day comes when we must leave behind our "nest": all that we know and are familiar with, and move on to another place and/or era in life. This scenario can take many different forms: a teenager leaving home and going to college, a longtime employee leaving a job for a better one, a family moving to another city, or even a protagonist setting out on a life-changing journey.
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })In all of these situations, it's understood that life will never be quite the same again. And for the most part, these are exciting times, full of potential and possibilities. However, any excitement a person might have tends to be tempered with ambivalence at leaving one's familiar life, and trepidation — or even fear — at what might lie ahead. Abandoning the familiar tends to leave us in a vulnerable and conflicted emotional state, and authors have spent entire books exploring the range of thoughts and feelings people have during this time.
"Leaving the Nest" Songs are musical attempts at exploring the feelings that accompany these times in a person's life. As everyone has different reactions to leaving home for the first time, these songs can run the the entire gamut of emotions. Some may be unambiguously excited, ready for independence and the challenges it presents. Others may be more subdued, with the protagonist feeling optimistic but uncertain. Still others may be melancholy, and dwell on homesickness and perceived loss of security. As striking out on one's own is one of the major life changes that can trigger severe anxiety and/or depression, in a few rare instances these songs can get quite dark even if the subject's reasons for leaving are fairly innocuous.
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })While most "Leaving the Nest" Songs are written concerning younger people, this trope isn't strictly limited to the young — after all, people can go through major life changes at all stages in life. Even when the subject of the song is a young person, the song often still resonates with older audiences as well. Older audiences may remember back to the time that they too left home, or they may appreciate the song from a new perspective as their own children grow up and set out on their own journey. Finally, "Leaving the Nest" Songs tend to encompass themes that are universal to everyone: freedom, independence, optimism, renewal, insecurity, regret, and the list goes on. It's not hard to imagine why this trope is among one of the most popular subjects to write songs about.
Although this trope's name is taken from an idiom that refers to young adults leaving the parents' home, this trope applies to any song in which a person is leaving their old, familiar life behind, by choice or otherwise. Moreover, not every song necessarily has to be a completely literal story about someone leaving their old life behind; there are many ways a lyricist might explore this theme. However, if it isn't at least reasonably clear that the song is at least somewhat related to leaving the familiar behind (willingly or not), then some indication of the writer's intended meaning is needed.
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })Frequently related to I Just Want to Be Free. Contrast I Choose to Stay. Can intersect with, overlap, or lead into Homesickness Hymn. If the subject of the song ultimately returns home, then Home Sweet Home may commence. If they return after a very long period of time, they may find that You Can't Go Home Again, or in extreme cases, find themselves a Stranger in a Familiar Land.
 
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 In the play Fiddler on the Roof, the inhabitants forced to leave their village sing the song "Anatevka," which is about leaving home and becoming:
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 "Go the Distance" from Hercules is a song about Hercules leaving home for the first time to discover his roots and his purpose after years of being treated like a freak for his godly strength.
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 Redwall: Invoked and Exploited in Triss, where two of the main characters are running away from home due to what they feel is stifling parenting. They spend the night with an old otter, who sings so many heartrending songs about mothers never seeing their children again that they leave the next morning before she ends up making them go home. Once they're gone, it's revealed the otter knew exactly what she was doing: reminding them their departure wasn't as easy for their parents as they imagined it to be.
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 The 1946 opera adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Street Scene contains the musical number "We'll Go Away Together," in which two teenagers sing of their plans to run away from home. Notably, the lyrics for this song were written by renowned poet Langston Hughes.
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 Amélie has "Times Are Hard for Dreamers", featuring an optimistic Amélie moving to Paris and into her own apartment.
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 From Thoroughly Modern Millie, "Not for the Life of Me".
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 The stage musical Anastasia has "Stay, I Pray You".
Also "Journey to the Past", taken from the original film.
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 Yakuza 6: The karaoke minigame contains the song "Hands", which is this trope to a T. It, at its core, deals with protagonist Kazuma Kiryu's internal conflict, between his desire to protect his daughter and his realization that his "little girl" is a grown woman with a little boy of her own to protect.
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 "One Way Ticket (Because I Can)" by LeAnn Rimes is a twist on the trope. The singer is leaving behind an old relationship and starting over again by buying a "one way ticket on a westbound train" and making plans for all of the things she's going to do now that she's emotionally and physically free.
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 "Journey to the Past," an inspirational ditty from the animated film Anastasia, deals with trying to gather up the courage to leave one's old life and enter into the new. The commercial single for the song was recorded by R&B artist Aaliyah, but the film version of the song was performed by Anastasia's voice actor Liz Callaway.
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 The song "Way Out West" in An American Tail: Fievel Goes West is sung by mice leaving overcrowded, crime-ridden, and cat-filled New York City to settle the western US. Fueled by Cat R. Waul's pie-in-the-sky propaganda, it's overblown and optimistic to ridiculous degrees...but it's not all that different from actual "Go West" propaganda of the era. Upon arrival, the mice immediately realize that the Old West isn't what was promised to them, but they remain hopeful and make a go of life there anyway.
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 Origami Angel: Somewhere City has two. "Welcome to..." and "The Title Track" both introduce Somewhere City. The former is about the singer describing how much he likes the city and goes there when he feels sad, because it's better than his current life. The second is trying to convince someone else to join him. By "The Air Up Here", he's decided to stay in Somewhere City and isn't coming back home.
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 
processingCategory2
 Aging Tropes
 
processingCategory2
 Music Tropes
 
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 Teenage Tropes
 Hercules / Disney / int_670de36f
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 Redwall / int_670de36f
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 American Idiot (Music) / int_670de36f
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 can opener's notebook: fish whisperer (Music) / int_670de36f
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 The Chicks (Music) / int_670de36f
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 Fiddler on the Roof (Theatre) / int_670de36f
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 Street Scene (Theatre) / int_670de36f
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 An American Tail: Fievel Goes West / int_670de36f
type