Left of my hometown

Verse 1  
I drove past Maple Street, didn’t recognize the view  
Windows all boarded up where we once ran wild and free after school  
Mr. Jenkins’ porch is quiet, no radio playin’ low  
And the house on the corner’s empty… where did everybody go?  

Pre-Chorus  
Every crack in the sidewalk used to know my name  
Now it feels like a stranger wearing my hometown’s face  

Chorus  
Yeah, this town ain’t what it was when I was a kid  
Ghosts in the shadows of the life we lived  
I swore the day I left I’d never come back around  
Now I’m standing here planted in this broken ground  
But somehow in the wreckage, I found my way through  
New faces, new memories, a life that grew  
Yeah, it’s not the same, but it’s mine somehow  
I’m raising my daughter in this old hometown  

Verse 2  
The mill shut down years ago, took half the dreams with it  
Main Street’s a memory, just empty signs and dust on it  
That hospital bought up everything from church to bar  
Now it’s the biggest thing around, you can see it from afar  

Pre-Chorus  
Funny how the place you couldn’t wait to leave behind  
Becomes the only road that leads you home in time  

Chorus  
Yeah, this town ain’t what it was when I was a kid  
Ghosts in the echoes of the life we lived  
I swore the day I left I’d never come back around  
Now I’m building something new from the hand-me-downs  
Got a good job, steady hands, something I can prove  
And a circle of friends that feels like truth  
Yeah, it’s not the same, but it’s mine right now  
I’m raising my daughter in this worn-down town  

Bridge  
I used to hate these streets, every crack, every line  
Now I see a second chance in the passing of time  
‘Cause love showed up where I thought none remained  
And somehow the broken pieces don’t feel the same  

Breakdown  
They say you can’t go home again… maybe that’s true  
But you can build a new one with a different view  

Final Chorus  
Yeah, this town ain’t what it was when I was a kid  
But there’s beauty in the damage, in what still lives  
I never thought I’d be the one to turn around  
Now I’m putting down roots in this battered ground  
Through the loss and the change, something good came through  
A brand new life where the old one grew  
Yeah, it’s not the same, but I’m proud somehow  
Raising my daughter in my old hometown  

Outro  
Yeah, it’s not the same… but it’s home right now  
And that’s enough in this old hometown

Country, female