Ain't How It Used To Be

(album: Wings On My Shoes - 2022)

This used to be the kind of town
You buy a place and settle down
Raise a family and hang around
That's the way that it used to be
12 years of school with the same ol' kids
Talk about getting away from this
But then you'd do just like your mama and daddy did

That's the way that it used to be
But then the money came in and almost over night
Turned all the collars from blue to white
Aw man it was a helluva sight
Now it ain't how it used to be

Now Main Street shines like a diamond
And the people all look like dolls
And everything's practically perfect
Man's it's hard to believe
But it ain't how it used to be

Earl's Fruit Stand used to sit over there
Now it's a place called Mercantile Square
Sells used blue jeans, $200 a pair
That ain't how it used to be
Dotson's served fried chicken right here
Now it's called Malone's and sells wax for your beard
The square's full of Vespa's instead of John Deere's
That ain't how it used to be

Now Main Street shines like a diamond
And the people all look like dolls
And everything's practically perfect
Man's it's hard to believe
But it ain't how it used to be

That's the way that it used to be
But then the money came in and almost over night
Turned all the collars from blue to white
Aw man it was a helluva sight
Now it ain't how it used to be

I drove through the other day
And I know that sometimes things have to change
It's a lot nicer now but I smile when I think
About how it used to be

Now Main Street shines like a diamond
And the people all look like dolls
And everything's practically perfect
Man's it's hard to believe
If you grew up here like me
But it ain't how it used to be