The Caylee Hammack Small Town Hypocrite song is a powerful and relatable song that captures the essence of growing up in a small town. The lyrics speak to the contradictions and complexities of life in a tight-knit community, where everyone knows each other’s business and appearances can be deceiving.
Rising country music star Caylee Hammack has released a new version of her deeply personal song “Small Town Hypocrite” with a guest vocal by Chris Stapleton. Since Hammack released the autobiographical song, critics, fans and peers alike have had an overwhelming affinity for the track and the picture it paints of the songwriter’s journey of heartbreak and reflection. Hammack also hand illustrated the single art for the special release of the track, depicting the trailer featured in the vulnerable lyrics.
“My one whim for this song was to hear Chris Stapleton accompany me on it,” shared Hammack. “Two years after I spoke this wish out loud in the studio, Chris agreed to sing the part I had written in hopes of hearing his voice on it. Life is a beautiful full circle sometimes. I am so grateful to Chris for singing on this song.”
Caylee Hammack “Small Town Hypocrite” ft. Chris Stapleton
“Small Town Hypocrite” Lyrics
Hand me down dreams got me high in the rafters
Homecoming queen couldn’t be an outsider
So there I’d sit, with a cigarette lit in a leather jacket
I found a boy who was a stranger too
In a one-horse town at a stable for two
We had matching scars and matching tattoos
Both dying to fit in
Ain’t that some shit
We’re just small-town hypocrites
And that scholarship was a ship that sailed
When I chose you and daddy gave me hell
I made myself into someone else just to love you, damn I loved you
Took all my plans and I put ’em in a box
Phantom pains for the wings I lost
Had me circling rings in the catalogs
For seven years and you never got the hint
Ain’t that some shit
I’m just a small-town hypocrite
Swore we’d be running, running, running this town
But you’re just running, running, running around
And I’m staring at a picket fence
Wondering where the hell time went
I should’ve been running, running, running by now
But I just hang around
Love shot me out like a rocket
Never to return and man, I forgot it
How it feels to fall from orbit and land on shifting sands
I found my heart at the bottom of a bucket
You said you needed space and damnit I bought it
‘Till you moved in a vinyl sided double wide with a couple of her kids
Ain’t that some shit
You’re just a small-town hypocrite (Oooh, oooh, ooooh)
Swore we’d be running, running, running this town
But you’re still running, running, running around
And I’m staring at a picket fence
Wondering where the hell time went
I should’ve been running, running, running by now
But I just hang around
Now I bitch about how things turned and how they should’ve been
The bridges that I burned and the trains I didn’t catch
Like a small-town hypocrite
Just a small-town hypocrite
Ultimately, “Small Town Hypocrite” is a song about the tension between conformity and individuality, between fitting in and standing out. It’s a powerful anthem for anyone who’s ever felt trapped by the expectations of their community, but it’s also a celebration of the resilience and strength that comes from embracing your true self.
