Country music star Kelsea Ballerini's “Half of My Hometown” music video gives us a look at her past and what could have been...
Country music star Kelsea Ballerini’s “Half of My Hometown” music video is a nod to her hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. Kenny Chesney, also from the area, sings backing vocals throughout the track.
“It feels very comfortable and easy to play because I think it’s a very realistic picture of what my life would be like had I stayed. It brings joy to my heart to know that I did leave and that I got to chase this dream and that I’m getting to come back and appreciate this life that I maybe could have had had I stayed,” Ballerini shared about her decision to leave Knoxville for Nashville while playing the role of a woman still living there.
Kelsea Ballerini’s “half of my hometown” featuring Kenny Chesney won the CMA Award in both CMA Musical Event and CMA Music Video of the Year categories in an early reveal on ABC’s Good Morning America on November 10, 2021. Watch the official music video and see the written lyrics below.
Half of my high school got too drunk
Half of my high school fell in love
With the girl next door
In their daddy’s Ford
Half of my main street’s mini skirts
Half of my main street’s dressed for church
It could use some rain
And a fresh coat of paint
Half of my hometown’s still hangin’ around
Still talkin’ about that one touchdown
They’re still wearin’ red and black
Go Bobcats, while the other half
Of my hometown they all got out
Some went north
Some went south
Still lookin’ for a feelin’ half of us ain’t found
So stay or leave
Part of me will always be
Half of my hometown
Half of our prom queens cut their hair
Half of them think that it ain’t fair
The quarterback moved away and never came back
Half of my family is happy I left
The other half worries I’ll just forget
Where I came from
Same place where they came from
Half of my hometown’s still hangin’ around
Still talkin’ about that one touchdown
They’re still wearin’ red and black
Go Bobcats, while the other half
Of my hometown they all got out
Some went north
Some went south
Still lookin’ for a feelin’ half of us ain’t found
So stay or leave
Part of me will always be
Half of my hometown
Half of my hometown
Backroads raise us
Highways they take us
Memories make us wanna go back
To our hometown, settle down
Talk about that one touchdown
Raise some kids in red and black
Go Bobcats, while the other half
Of my hometown was in the crowd
They knew the words
They sang them loud
And all I wanna do is make them proud
Cause half of me will always be
Knoxville, Tennessee
My hometown
My hometown