Plumb Line Home

[Verse 1]
Plywood on the hardware store's window, same faded sign,
Like a crooked nail stuck in time, tellin' stories you left behind.
Ten years I've been gone, a decade wide, chasing some distant dream,
But every brick and porch light here's still holding its solid beam.

[Chorus]
This town's a strong foundation, built to outlast me,
Yeah, the only moving piece I found here was just me.
The only thing that changed, son, was the blueprint inside my head,
This old valley's plumb and level, like the riverbed.

[Verse 2]
Old Man Cooper's porch swing creaks, a rhythm never lost,
He’s still whittling out pine carvings, never counting the cost.
The air still smells of damp earth, and coal dust on the breeze,
While my own structural integrity feels loose at the knees.

[Chorus]
This town's a strong foundation, built to outlast me,
Yeah, the only moving piece I found here was just me.
The only thing that changed, son, was the blueprint inside my head,
This old valley's plumb and level, like the riverbed.

[Bridge]
I chased a dream like a loose timber, out past the county line,
Thought I was building something new, a future truly mine.
But the scaffolding of memory holds this place tight and true,
And you can’t outrun the bedrock of where you came from, can you?

[Outro]
Yeah, the only thing that changed, boy, was the plumb line in my hand,
Still standing true, this Appalachian land.