Little Town

(album: I'll Meet You Here - 2021)

It's nothing that you did, you gotta understand
You're taking it too fast, it's going way too fast
It's nothing that you did, it's not the color of your skin
The one thing you should know, you gotta take it slow
What they call the shifting of the sands I see as your demands
When you change you can't ignore
What things are and were before

My family has been here for generations
And now I have two children of my own
And I knew that I would stay here, always knew I'd stay here
It's not a new world that you found
It's just a little town

Everybody knows who was born and raised here
The mayor is my friend, I've known him all my life
Each year he and I plan the Fourth of July
So why'd he ask you too? You, especially you?
He said this town, for all its pride, it's been dying from inside
And we've got to find our way
We'll start with Independence Day

And as the fireworks came up above the mountain
I saw you put your hand up to your heart
And I saw the mayor watching, knew my kids were watching
Hope that I would come around
Big parade, little town

Now the months come after months and every Fourth of July
We help our children putting all the flags on the line
Up and down the Main Street, every country that we're from
Like the mayor always wanted
He's been gone for seven years now

It's quiet by the lake, walking with our dogs
How long has it been, oh it's been a long time now
We talk about this town, you're the mayor of it now
They're all moving here, everyone comes here
We like to say we don't get out that much
'Cause the whole world comes to us
We can't blame them now, we say, we are just a little great
And you know that I'm not proud
Those things I dared to say out loud
But you wave it all away, my friend, you wave it all away

But my kids, they went off in all directions
And I know it's thanks to you they have returned
They have all this understanding, all this understanding
They have been the world around
And they came back to our little town