Hometown

(album: If You Don't Like The Story Write Your Own - 2022)

Yeah

Remember how the music sounded under streetlights on late-night drives
And how the moon would illuminate the passenger side
It's twenty to five, I just passed Deepwood Drive
I wish I knew then I was living in my simpler times
Sometimes I'd walk around Nevers, headphones on in the rain
'Cause songs always sounded better than the thoughts in my brain
See, last year taught how much in a year things change
When I'm in town now and look around, nothin's the same, damn

I don't know
What they even mean when they're telling me I need to come home
Feels like yesterday I packed the car with everything that I own
Know myself less than I know those roads
But my hometown no longer feels like home

I'm back in town, just not for long
The only time that I come back is to visit my mom
I traded oak and maple trees for a couple palms
Remember back when I would rap songs at Tyler and Sean's
The downstairs felt like Madison Square
There was probably never more than three or four of us there
Nobody cared, but we never cared
I guess I always knew the thief of happiness is when you start to compare
Now I'm in town and feel like a tourist
This is where my mom and dad had their first mortgage
This is where my dad passed, not to sound morbid
Lately learning that the little things are more important
Places I would visit daily now are so different
My old house no longer even looks lived-in
I can't get back all the holidays I've been missing
You really don't know what you miss until you're at distance
Until you, uh, now

I don't know
What they even mean when they're telling me I need to come home
Feels like yesterday I packed the car with everything that I own
Know myself less than I know those roads
But my hometown no longer feels like home

Mom's talking 'bout moving now outta state
Looking for a place that has a little more space
So I may not be coming back, and that's something I need to face
All the memories we made here are slowly starting to fade
And my mom got remarried, she says she's changing her name
And my sister got engaged and she plans on doing the same
I'll be the last one in my family with my family name
Now who the fuck is even family? Guess the question remains, 'cause

I don't know
What they even mean when they're telling me I need to come home
Feels like yesterday I packed the car with everything that I own
Know myself less than I know those roads
But my hometown no longer feels like home
I don't know
What they even mean when they're telling me I need to come home
Feels like yesterday I packed the car with everything that I own
Know myself less than I know those roads (Roads, oh, oh)
But my hometown no longer feels like home

All these photos are moments frozen in time
They teleport me to a place I can only see in my mind
Remember summer nights, chasing our whiskey down with some wine
And in the winter, how the air would combine with the smell of pine
Remember sitting at the park all alone with a broken heart
In my car spending hours just staring up at the stars
Back when validation came from a friend and not from a chart
I cherish where I'm from, from afar, damn