Josh Turner took a bit of a hiatus from releasing new music so fans were chomping at the bit when he released "Hometown Girl" as the second single from his 2017 album Deep South. Written by Marc Beeson and Daniel Tashian, the song still makes me stop every time it comes on the radio. The country song is totally addicting and in the best way possible.
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Turner told 973 The Dawg that he was immediately drawn to the song and loved the message it gave to his female listeners.
"Hometown Girl," when I first heard it -- that melody, first of all, just stuck in my head; before I even knew what the words were, I was humming that melody all the way home. That's a pretty good sign. When I started digging in[to] the lyric, I loved what it said, and I felt like it was something that my fan base could really connect with and relate to, because I feel like a lot of the female fans here recently have complained about a lot of the songs objectifying them, and this song was the exact opposite of that. It was edifying them, it was lifting them up, it was looking past their outward appearance. It went deeper than that, and so, that appealed to me."
Turner has one of the most distinctive baritones in the business, and it seems to grow richer over time. The song hit number two on the country airplay and is still making its rounds on the radio because it's just that good.
Lyrics
She grew up around here on that southwest side
Where the corn grows up to the roadside
Went to high school here, got that Panther pride
She'll be cheering them on every Friday night
She couldn't hide her beauty with a baseball cap
Couldn't help but shine with a heart like that
New York called when she turned 21
But she never forgot where she came from
I need a pretty little homegrown hometown girl
With a ribbon tying back those waterfall curls
I've been looking all over, all over the world
For a pretty little homegrown hometown girl
Her mamma's mamma was born right here
And her roots run deeper than that old town square
She's a good girl but she's not uptight
She can rise and shine and she can hang all night
I need a pretty little homegrown hometown girl
With a ribbon tying back those waterfall curls
I've been looking all over, all over the world
For a pretty little homegrown hometown girl
She's got an old soul, she's the salt of the earth
When she gives her love she knows what it's worth
There's a lot of pretty girls out there to me
But there's nothing like the one right across the street
I need a pretty little homegrown hometown girl
With a ribbon tying back those waterfall curls
I've been looking all over, all over the world
For a pretty little homegrown hometown girl
I need a pretty little homegrown hometown girl
This post was originally published on December 8, 2016.
