Live 18 Jun 1988 version
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 rode through town
He'd tousle my hair and say son take a good look around
This is your hometown
It's your hometown
It's your hometown
It's your hometown
In '65 tension was running high at my high school
There was a lot of fights between the black and white, 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, troubled times had come
To my hometown
To my hometown
To my hometown
To my hometown
Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody wanna come down here no more
Yeah they're closing down the textile mill 'cross the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back
To your hometown
To your hometown
To your hometown
To your hometown
Last night me and Kate we laid in bed talking about getting out
Packing up our bags 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
Ooh ooh ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh ooh ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh ooh ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh ooh ooh
Hey!
Ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh ooh
Ooh ooh, ooh ooh ooh
Ooh ooh, ooh ooh
Ooh ooh, ooh ooh ooh
Thank you!
The above lyrics are for the live 18 Jun 1988 performance of MY HOMETOWN at Chateau De Vincennes in Paris, France, during a guest appearance at the S.O.S. Racism Concert. The concert was broadcast on TV in France. The song featured Bruce Springsteen on vocals and acoustic guitar, accompanied by Clarence Clemons on backing vocals and percussion.
List of available versions of MY HOMETOWN on this website:
MY HOMETOWN [Album version]