City Beautiful

[Verse 1]
I grew up on the corner
Of housing developments
Across from a Walmart
Some fast food restaurants

We used to run around the park smoking green
With a six pack we'd hide from the police at our local hoss[?]

My school was the good school
And still I looked through backpacks
Where my friends had automatic pistols

Did my homework
And I stayed out of trouble
The best
That I could do
My headphones on, yeah

Discovered music
And that kept me grounded
When I roamed those ghost town streets
Looking for houses
Where the live shows and parties
Steady happened and then later at night
Hopped a ride to the daisy after sundown

Now I walk main streets
See the trees lining the side walk
New paint over the place that I once knew

All around the world I can safely say
That I still miss my home
And it's you I'm coming back to

[Chorus] X 2
Paint the city beautiful like that
Let me travel round the world I'll be right back
When I see the skyline it's the sight that
Makes me always wanna come back to you, to you

[Verse 2]
He held the register open
While he counted her change
I was staring at the magazines
Reading the headlines
I used to smoke (yeah)
This is where I'd buy them cigarettes
But instead I buy a coffee
And a snack for the red line

A car pulled up
A '67 olds
A woman and a child climbed out
And left it running
Went inside
A quick check
Placed an order
Got the Avian water
Because the daughter's taste buds were kinda funny

When they came out
Mommy gave me a glance
That said man can touch forever
But he's gotta learn to dance
Already knew the deal
So I nodded and I walked
Past the running car
Walking down the boulevard

Hole tookers[?] on the corner by the CVS
Looking at me like they think I pledge to PBS
I get closer their T-shirts had the Marvel M
Cap and Hawkeye slashed across the front side so

I walk past with a nod and reminisce
Swear to god
Punk rock and X-Men was my genesis

All of a sudden i'm in front of some kid
No, he's a grown man
He's got a cup in his hand
He looks tired
He looks weathered
He ain't afraid

With a sign in his hand
Scribbled marker would say
"hungry and homeless
Veteran and so alone
If you got a couple a dollars
Maybe you can help me brother"

Took a dollar out my pocket
He said "god bless"
And I realize
I ain't been to church in like a life-time

And as I look up
Staring at the skyline
Ask the big guy if he's got some more surprises
And dime trying

The city is dying
But the city is gorgeous
And the building's stretch further
Past the point of their proportions

All I got's my word and it stays true, yo
I'm always coming back home to you

And I was born where the factories cried
Raised with a dose of southern pride
And I seen where Martin Luther King died
And the river where the bluffs felt the tide
And it's a part of all of me inside
From the buildings to the swamp filled skies
And I've been here a pretty long time
Bet your home's really nothing like mine, right

[Chorus] X 2
Paint the city beautiful like that
Let me travel round the world I'll be right back
When I see the skyline it's the sight that
Makes me always wanna come back to you, to you

Hey yo
I've been on tour for like two straight years
But home is where the heart is, right?
This for all my friends
All my family
I love y'all
Peace