HOMETOWN by Ethan Smith Lyrics

[Ethan Smith]
I call this hometown.
From my first parking garage rooftop,
first love beyond attraction,
squinted eyes and cracked smiles. I call this
the latest of a new growth.
And believe me,
when I say you cannot know until you've lived here.
And forgive me if I seem pretentious when I say this,
that is not my intention, but have you ever lived,
comfortably?
Have you ever fully expanded your diaphragm like a sleeping cat,
felt it pull
at your stomach, a breath, baby, a fresh air tainted by what they call city musk?
And I call this back alley shortcuts.
Twisted roads, built for smaller cars; I call this history.
Three years in the making,
since I set foot on solid ground,
legs shaking, didn't know that I had found
the sounds
that would save me,
the community that gave me unity and bravery,
I call this concrete three hundred years
in the making.
[Chorus: Mark Joseph]
Take a seed and watch it grow

[Choir]
Take a
Seed and

[Mark Joseph]
Ooh, I've found a place to call my home
Writing history that's all my own
Yeah, this old city's my new home

[Ethan Smith]
'Cause it's this backwards phenomenon of
never quite knowing where you are,
but knowing
that you are going, that it's close enough to want,
and not feel diminished.
That a small city only proves that you are bigger than you feel,
and in someone's eyes you are bigger than you feel.
But it's not for them.
It's for a river named Charles,
and a skyline that sometimes sleeps at night,
and a black and white photograph—
proof, that even in grey, a spirit lingers here.
In the diaphragm.
In a fourth-story apartment.
Built for settlers, not passers-by, not to be passed by without bearing witness
to that building's soul.
And these bricks are older now;
each year, it's clear enough to see,
even through squinted eyes,
there's a high-rise in a small city whose towers are much bigger than they feel.
So heal, here.
Steal here away from outside.
Watch it grow.
Feel the snow when you buy boots,
and shoot baskets,
and build a court out of a neighborhood sidewalk. Stable, and good.
See grey, this way, and stay.
And build your own history.
Misery still exists.
So keep change in your pockets.
Carry your heart in a locket in a cockpit of your ribs.
And pilot these ultraviolet eyes, 'cause I see you, sunrise.
See cries of admiration from a small part of a nation.
I call this:
respiration.

[Chorus: Mark Joseph]
Take a seed and watch it grow
Yeah, I've found a place to call my home
Writing history that's all my own
Yeah, this old city's my new home

[Bridge: Choir]
Move on
Move on
Move on
Move on
I've been waiting
For a place to call my own
[Ethan Smith]
I call this
Growth

[Choir]
I've been waiting

[Ethan Smith]
I call this
Stable

[Choir]
For a place to call my own

[Ethan Smith]
I call this
Community

[Choir]
I've been waiting

[Ethan Smith]
I call this
in love

[Choir]
For a place to call my own

[Ethan Smith]
I call this
family

[Choir]
I've been waiting

[Ethan Smith]
I call this

[Choir]
I've been waiting

[Ethan Smith]
Hometown

[Chorus: Mark Joseph]
Take a seed and watch it grow
Yeah, I've found a place to call my home
Writing history that's all my own
Yeah, this old city's my new home
Writing history that's all my own
Yeah, this old city's my new home

[Ethan Smith]
Shh…
Can you hear the windows breathing?
Have you ever lived in a home you can believe in?