I grew up where the Streetlights called us home With a paper route And a bicycle chrome No pocket full of answers No glowing screen Just a library card And a wild daydream We learned the world From the pages we turned From every scraped up knee And lesson we earned A little bit reckless A little untamed But nobody knew our Every move or name We didn’t have much But we had enough A ball in the yard And a little bit of trust We found our way When the daylight died With imagination riding Shotgun by our side Slow down America You’re moving too fast Running from tomorrow Tripping over the past Somewhere in the noise We forgot who we are Trading founding fire For a world of falling stars I still love this country But I barely recognize The land of steady hands Beneath these flashing lights Slow down America Before the soul gets lost Remember what we stood for Remember what it cost We were Gen X children Raised by the street With a house key hanging Underneath the seat Mom and Dad were working So we figured it out Made our own adventures And wandered about We drank from garden hoses Came home black and blue Built forts out of plywood With a nail or two We were left to ourselves And somehow we survived Half grown by thirteen Lucky to be alive No pager buzzing No cell phone ring No stranger online Knowing everything Just a paperback book And a flashlight beam A quiet little room And a head full of dreams Slow down America You’re moving too fast Running from tomorrow Tripping over the past Somewhere in the noise We forgot who we are Trading founding fire For a world of falling stars I still love this country But I barely recognize The land of steady hands Beneath these flashing lights Slow down America Before the soul gets lost Remember what we stood for Remember what it cost I see a nation sprinting with Its eyes locked on a screen Arguing over shadows Forgetting what freedom means Every voice is louder But the truth gets hard to hear And the lines that once held us Keep disappearing year by year We used to know that liberty Came paired with sacrifice That rights were more than slogans And duty had a price Now we’re tearing at the roots That held the branches high Then wondering why the shade Is fading from the sky I miss the sound of Neighbors talking on the porch A Bible on the table And a lantern by the door I miss a country Confident enough to disagree Without turning every Neighbor into an enemy I miss the kind of courage That stood when times were hard The faith that built a future And the work that earned regard We weren’t perfect back then Lord knows we had our scars But we still believed this country Could become more than we are Take me back not To a perfect yesterday Just to slower roads And words we meant to say Back before convenience Became a chain Before every breaking headline Fed another flame Let the children run Beneath an open sky Let them learn from falling Let them learn to try And let this nation kneel Before it claims the throne Remembering the freedoms It did not build alone Slow down America You’re moving too fast Running from tomorrow Burying the past There’s still a fire burning Underneath the scars Still a promise in the stripes And a hope among the stars I still love this country So I’m calling her by name Not to curse the broken ground But to tend the flame Slow down America Before the soul gets lost Remember what we stood for Remember what it cost Give me a bike, a book And a sunset turning gold A front porch a quiet town A story honestly told If this country finds her footing Maybe she’ll finally see The road back to her purpose Starts with remembering
