About The Song
Anywhere but Here by Sammy Kershaw was released as a single on September 28, 1992, the fourth and final single from his debut album Don’t Go Near the Water. The album itself had arrived the previous October on Mercury Records and eventually earned platinum certification. The single climbed to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and reached No. 17 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks list. It debuted at No. 73 in early October 1992 and became one of four charting singles from the project, following “Cadillac Style,” the title track, and “Yard Sale.”
The song was written by Buddy Cannon, Bob DiPiero, and John Scott Sherrill. Cannon also co-produced the track with Norro Wilson. At just under two and a half minutes, it is a tight, no-frills country record that wastes little time getting to the point. A Billboard review at the time noted that Kershaw brought “a bit of George Jones flair” to the performance, a comparison that followed him often in those early years.
The story is straightforward and familiar. A man walks up to a bus station counter and asks when the next bus leaves. He is a party of one out of Tennessee and does not plan on coming back anytime soon. He has no luggage—only a heavy load of memories. He had finally been ready to settle down until he discovered his partner had been fooling around. Now the only thing that matters is putting distance between himself and home. The ticket agent can send him north or south; it makes no difference. Just don’t route him past his own house. He wants a ticket that will take him anywhere but here.
The details land with quiet force. Cold weather in Saskatoon could not match the chill in their bedroom. The blue skies of Alabama would not be any bluer than he feels. There is no long list of accusations or dramatic confrontation. The decision has already been made. He is leaving, and the destination is secondary to the simple need to be somewhere else.
The music video, directed by Mary Matthews and Jeff Smith, added a memorable touch. It featured NASCAR driver Mark Martin and his Roush Racing Valvoline Ford Thunderbird. In one sequence Kershaw misses his tour bus, turning the idea of departure into a visual punch line that fit the song’s restless mood. The clip helped the single stay visible as it climbed the charts in late 1992 and early 1993.
Don’t Go Near the Water introduced Kershaw as a reliable new voice in the early-’90s country boom. “Anywhere but Here” closed out that album’s radio run on a strong note and kept momentum going into the next project. It never reached the very top of the chart the way “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful” would the following year, yet it remains one of the clearer early examples of the straightforward storytelling that defined his sound. The song does not overcomplicate the heartbreak. A man has been hurt, he needs to leave, and the open road is the only answer that makes sense in the moment.
More than three decades later the track still holds up as a clean, efficient piece of country narrative. It captures that specific feeling of needing to put miles between yourself and a place that has suddenly become unbearable. No grand speeches, no second thoughts—just a ticket in hand and a clear preference for anywhere but here.
Video
Lyric
Hey mister, what time does the next bus leave
I’m a party of one out of Tennessee
I won’t be back for a long, long while
Give you eighty-five dollars to the highway mile
I ain’t got no luggage as you can see
Just a whole lot of heavy memories
I was finally up for just a-settling down
When I found out she’d been a-fooling around
Just don’t send me past my house
Don’t ask me where I’m going, cause I don’t care
I want a ticket that’ll take me anywhere but here
A ticket that’ll take me anywhere but here
Well, I hear it’s cold up in Saskatoon
But it couldn’t be colder than our bedroom
The skies are blue down in Alabam’
But they won’t be any bluer than I am
Ah, you can send me north and you can send me south
But just don’t send me past my house
Don’t ask me where I’m going, cause I don’t care
I want a ticket that’ll take me anywhere but here
A ticket that’ll take me anywhere but here