Stuck In My Hometown

(album: Bored In The USA - 2023)

Stuck in my hometown working 9 to 5
I'm tryna stay strong but I got tears all in my eyes
I'm going down down, I'm going down
I'm going down down, I'm going I'm going

Heartland dreams, late night fantasies
Tryna make something out of this life they handed me
Wanna marry a girl and start us a family
Blue collar workin everyday is making a man of me

There ain't a lot of jobs round here except the saw mills
This part of the state has been forgotten got a raw deal
Couple Dollar Generals Little Caesar's and a ball field
Give up on our dreams man it seems that we all will

Settle for less is better than nothing
We ain't got a lot to give but we got food in the oven
We got church every Sunday yea we got aunties and cousins
We always fighting and fussing but you know we still love 'em

There's lotta problems round here like it's a math test
Small towns you couldn't find with GPS or Mapquest
Schools need funding, teachers needs access
Kids need guidance and the homeless need a mattress

I ain't a politician I'm just making observations
Tryna find a better way to make a statement no debating
There's a lot homes that's vacant, lot of souls been taken
A lot of congressman complacent

Some are even complicit you wonder like "what's the motivation?"
It's like when people hit the church plate to make a donation
Then see the pastor flying private jets on his vacation
Like I'm saying don't y'all see what's going on man it's so blatant

Stuck in my hometown working 9 to 5
I'm tryna stay strong but I got tears all in my eyes
I'm going down down I'm going down
I'm going down down I'm going I'm going

Read the paper this morning flipped open the page
Recognized the photo next to a familiar name
A guy I went to high school with in 11th grade
Was the prom king, baseball team played second base

Everybody liked him, he had a smile and sense of humor
His dad is a lawyer and his mom is a tutor
Came from a good home had a real bright future
Wish I would of thought to catch up with him sooner

But after graduation he got so many offers
I went off to state school and he went off Oxford
I think somebody told me he was gonna be a doctor
Or maybe an attorney in the footsteps of his father

But the story goes, the way it was written
It was a summer night there a head-on collision
And by the grace of god he made it alive
A couple broken bones but he was supposed to be just fine

Then the doctor gave him something for his pain
Wrote him a prescription it was then his life changed
A chemical reaction something deep inside his brain
After a couple refills he'd never be the same

He tried to get the fix where've he could find it
His parents paid for rehab they were open minded
Like this sort of thing happens let's just put it all behind us
We know things can get better if we just believe in the science

It was a Tuesday night they found him on the floor
11:32 parademics rushed thru the door
They recognized this apartment they had been there before
But they were too late this time they tried and tried some more

Saturday morning they laid him down in dirt
His friends gave speeches bout how he was always down to earth
Would always light up a room and put everybody else first
But it seemed like the last few years that he'd been cursed

And now his pictures next to his obituary
And I'm just sitting here thinking like isn't it scary
Life ain't fair, addiction don't discriminate
There's a lot of people struggling up and down this interstate
Families setting tables with one less dinner plate
I don't know what I'm tryn'a say I just hope this can resonate

I'm tired of the reality of where I'm from
I'm tired of seeing tragedy and the good die young
I'm tryna wake up every morning with the rising sun
Look in the mirror and be proud of who I've become

Stuck in my hometown working 9 to 5
I'm tryna stay strong but I got tears all in my eyes
I'm going down down, I'm going down
I'm going down down, I'm going I'm going