What does Homeboy mean?

Eric Church: Homeboy Meaning

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Album cover for Homeboy album cover

Song Released: 2011


Homeboy Lyrics

You were too bad for a little square town
with your hip-hop hat and your pants on the ground
Heard you cussed out momma, pushed daddy around
You tore off in his car
Here you are runnin’ these dirty old streets
Tattoo on your neck, fake gold...

  1. anonymous
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    Aug 31st 2011 !⃝

    I see this exact situation so much in my little hometown.

    A kid (the singer/storyteller's brother) was born and raised in a small town, but as he grows up he hungers for anything but the smalltown life. He does the pointless teenage rebellion thing,then at the first opportunity leaves his home, wanting to be anywhere but there. Over time the singer/storyteller runs into his brother, and tries to convince him that there is no shame in being born in a little town, or in living in one. The brother however, never listens, choosing instead to keep denying his past and living in the city, shunning anything and everything country. Finally one day the singer runs into his brother again and tells him he has one last chance to come home and make things right, because their parents are dying.

    All things considered, the song is saying that there is nothing wrong with the small town life, but there is always someone who feels nothing but shame at living it.

    In my town, the rebels always come back, if only because they can't make it in the big city. In this song however, it seems that the brother never returns.

  2. anonymous
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    Jul 26th 2011 !⃝

    Okay for the record, he had an interview on iHeartRadio, that explains the song much better.

    The song is a touch on the literal deterioration of a family member, like his brother. That is what the first verse is about.

    The second verse is soceietal more than anything, and pointing out how he has lost touch with the world around him.

    The third and final touch is a spirtual discussion that is brought up, because the parents are ailing and sick.

  3. anonymous
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    Jul 26th 2011 !⃝

    Homeboy is a term that means "friend." A country living boy's brother left their small town farm to live in a the city. He gets involved in drugs and crime. The small town brother urges his brother to "come on home, boy". He knows his brother will one day day regret his choice of crime and "wish one day you were sitting on the bed of a truck..." The second verse is telling the criminal brother to come home and help him on the farm. "It aint a glamorous life but it will keep you outta jail" The third verse puts a twist on the term Homeboy. the farm town brother is explaining how his brother should back and make things right with his parents "before they're called home(heaven), boy."

  4. anonymous
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    May 15th 2011 !⃝

    It means that there was a kid this person grew up with and now he's getting into the wrong crowd, he want's to help him (I can keep ya pretty busy with a hammer and a nail
    Ain’t a glamorous life, but it’ll keep you outta jail).

    I think it's written for all the kids who grow up in a small town and get into the wrong stuff, it's happing to my friends left and right... I miss them so bad


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