[Verse 1]
I was eight years old and running with a dime in my hand
Into the bus stop to pick up a paper for my old man
I'd sit on his lap in that big old Buick and steer as we drove through town
He'd tousle my hair and say "Son, take a good look around"

[Refrain]
"This is your hometown, this is your hometown
This is your hometown, this is your hometown

[Verse 2]
In '65 tension was running high at my high school
There was lots of fights 'tween blacks and whites, there was nothing you could do
Two cars at a light on a Saturday night, in the back seat there was a gun
Words were passed, in a shotgun blast and troubled times had come

[Refrain]
To my hometown, my hometown
My hometown, mo my hometown

[Bridge]
Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad track
Foreman says "These jobs are going, boys, and they ain't coming back"
[Refrain]
"To your hometown, your hometown
Your hometown, your hometown"

[Verse 3]
Last night me and Kate laid in bed talkin' about getting out
Packing up our bags and maybe heading south
I'm thirty-five, we got a boy of our own now
Last night I sat him up behind the wheel and said, "Son take a good look around
This is your hometown"