On a three hour flight from Memphis to L.A.
I was silently celebrating my first class upgrade
Laughing at my jeans and my boots
beside those high dollar shoes and Armani suits
When the gentleman next to me said "The drinks up here are free
So if you like the first one can be on me"
He said "I'm heading back from business in New York and Rome
Tell me son, where do you call home?"
I said "I'm from the front pew of a wooden white church
A courthouse clock that still don't work
Where a man's word means everything
Where moms and dads were high school flames
And gave their children Grandmother's maiden name
yes it may not sound like much
But it's where I'm from"
So we drank that round and then another
There wasn't a topic in this world we did not cover
He said "I headed out west when I was barely 19
Just a kid chasing my dreams"
And I said "I'm flying out here to pick up my big brother
He's been fighting the cancer they discovered
But he called last night and said 'I think this is the end
So come take me home to my family and my friends'"
"Where the quarterback dates the homecoming queen
the truck's a ford and the tractor's green
And "Amazing Grace" is what we sing
Where there's a county fair every fall
And your friends are there no matter when you call
It may not sound like much
But it's where I'm from"
And as we stood to claim the bags we checked
He said "I'll pray for your brother and did I mention that
Italian suits haven't always been my style
You see I was the quarterback of my high school team
We took state back in 63
And my wife, she's still my homecoming queen"
"Cause I'm from the front pew of a wooden white church
A courhouse clock that still don't work
Where a man's word means everything
Where moms and dads were high school flames
and gave their children Grandmother's maiden name
It may not sound like much
I said it may not sound like much,
But it's where I'm from"