Hometown Girl

Have you ever loved someone you knew nothing of
Except you'd seen the light inside their eyes
Have you ever loved someone just because
Nothing felt so easy or so right

And i think of you like the others do
Wondering if you think of me
And if you do, if you really do
Who is it that you see

Have you ever loved
Whether right or wrong
Have you ever loved someone
Just because

Have you ever tried to speak the truth instead of lie
When it seemed you had everything to lose
Have you ever tried to stand your ground instead of hide
When staying only made you look a fool

And i stayed by you though i think i knew
It wouldn't change a thing
Changes come to hearts with ease
But they come so hard to me
Have you ever tried to make it last, not knowing why
Except you had to try
Just because

And every day that passes now, i s'pose i'm getting older
Wiser with the things i've done
But i hope i don't grow colder

And now i see the ones, who've lost so much
They swear they're done
With love and all the chance it brings for pain
But have you ever touched, and by itself it was enough
To make you want to reach out once again

And i'll touch you when i need a friend
Or just a small reminder
That i haven't grown too cold to feel
You penetrate my armor

Have you ever loved
Whether right or wrong
Have you ever loved someone
Just because
Have you ever loved someone
Just because

Last sunday we got in the car and we drove
To the town you were raised in, your boyhood home
The trees were just turning, up on the ridge
And this was your valley when you were a kid
You showed me the railroad that your daddy worked on
As we neared the old house where your granny lives on
She's nearing ninety years now, with her daughters by her side
Who tend the places in the heart where loneliness can hide

Chorus: raised by the women who are stronger than you know
A patchwork quilt of memory only women could have sewn
The threads were stitched by family hands, protected from the moth
By your mother...and her mother, the weavers of your cloth

Your grandmother owned a gun in 1932
When times were bad just everywhere, you said she used it too
And the life and times of everyone are traced inside their palms
Her skin may be so weathered, but her grip is still so strong
And i see your eyes belong to her and too your mama too
A slice of virginia sky, the clearest shade of blue

Chorus:

And a rich man you might never be, they'd love you just the same
They've handed down so much to you besides your christian name
And the spoken word won't heal you like the laying on of hands
Belonging to the ones who raised you to a man

Chorus:

Years ago in my hometown i was a headstrong girl and a heartstrong one / we'd ride all summer with the top rolled down through the sleepy streets of that jersey town
Now i knew girls when i was sixteen
Could make a smart boy stutter, turn a nice boy mean
And the boys made the girls into homecoming queens
Married each other instead of their dreams

Chorus: these days i'm mostly out on my own
Looking for someplace that i can call home
Late at night, or just before dawn
I pretend you're with me now
It never seemed that hard before
What happened to that hometown girl?

The seasons changed in my hometown
The way they changed in yours
The windows opened up to the spring
Like every spring before
And i ran with boys who weren't like you
I was young but somehow i knew
The difference between a man and a fool
Sometimes i think that could have been you

Chorus:

Hometown girls are like hometown dreams
Some start fading, others stay keen
I won't forget you but i'll let you be
Love never was that kind to me

Late at night or just before down
I pretend you're with me now
You had your madness and you had your charm
But only when your heart allowed
And my heart just won't allow no more
What happened to that hometown girl?

He was a long tall stranger from way down south
Where he'd left his life behind
He had a big old gibson and a pickup truck
And shenandoah eyes
And i remember him sitting in that local bar
Where i earned my pay each night
Singing my songs to empty chairs and going home half tight

So the nights rolled by like headlights shining on a lonesome strip of tar
I kept his word of kindness close to me like a pick on my guitar
And we talked about the singers and the songs we loved
And the songs we'd most forgot
In that rundown bar they'd make last call
And i'd never want to stop

Chorus: cause i was living on nothing but a young girl's dreams
With my cowboy boots and my old six string
Hitching my wagon to a star, dreaming of leaving those local bars
When i'd get him up at closing time
For a couple of songs and a chance to shine
Like the star that he longed to be
He looked a hell of a lot like me

Well he'd played a lot of places where the only wages were food and beer for free
No fancy licks but he had him a gift for the kinds of songs he'd ding
But you do what you can to be a satisfied man
Just to have your piece of mind
So he gave it all up for a government job where the paychecks come on time

So now he comes to the bar to hear me play guitar
And to share a drink or two
And we sit swapping tales of where we've been and what we'd rather do
There's a wealth of dangers when you're talking to strangers
And i meet them all the time
But my heart knew better than my head when i looked into those yes

Chorus:

Well maybe i'll quit when i've got me a kid and a place to call my own
But tonight there ain't nobody there waiting up for me at home
It's a helluva way to live from day to day
Not knowing where you're bound
But the look in his eyes made me realize
I was glad for the life i'd found

Chorus:

The whippoorwills were crying in the falling rain
Far away a whistle hailed a passing train
Out in the country summer was almost gone
The fields were turning rusty and the hills were turning brown

Now i think of you when summer stars are on the rise
I think of you with a bottle of wine and lazy eyes
Playing rock and roll songs on an old guitar
Getting drunk and sleeping out in my backyard

Now sometimes i just lie awake and i hear the wind
Blowing through the seasons of my heart again
My dreams are mostly lost and found on other streets,
In other towns
But babe, you know, i still look out for you

The cars were all abandoned on the city streets
When snow had left us stranded then we used our feet
And wound up drinking whiskey in a crowded bar
And now when it starts storming i wonder where you are

'cause you said that i was crazy to believe in you
You said to never trust a man who sings the blues
Well trust and that old guitar was all you'd ever need
If you found a way to love the girl in me

Chorus:

Other boys i knew were just like shiny dimes
Tossed and spent, they came and went a hundred times
Nothing was as rough on me as giving up on you
Now it seems like every bar in town's got boys who sing the blues

Chorus: