TomFlannery.com

I always wanted to get the words “Taylor Swift” into a song. Otherwise not sure where it came from. I do like the line about the family tree that snapped in two though. Sometimes it’s the little things…

Martyrtown
(Tom Flannery)

Daddy got out on parole on my birthday
but he still didn’t have much to say
kissed me on the cheek but wouldn’t look me in the eye
Mamma in the backseat tryng not to cry
Stopped at a 7-11 on our way home
for some slushies and an ice cream cone
put it on his card but it got declined
so I said “here, you can use one of mine…”

Ten miles to the river as the crows flew
was that family tree that snapped in two
when that last big storm touched down
in Martyrtown

He’d lift me on his shoulders at the county fair
one year even Taylor Swift played there
she was still a kid wearing a cowboy hat
with a rickety old tour bus parked out back
But once they leave they never return
like touching that skillet and feeling that burn
there’s a bridge in this town that fell back in 92
that google maps still leads you to….

Ten miles to the river as the crows flew
was that family tree that snapped in two
when that last big storm touched down
Down here in Martyrtown

Martyrtown Martyrtown
not the place to be when that sun goes down
high school heroes giving it all kinds of hell
armed with a grudge and a story to tell

You can run but I can’t get clear
my name is yours and that still matters down here
Mamma scarred like a junkie’s arm
and I’ve been blessed with the family charm

Ten miles to the river as the crows flew
was that family tree that snapped in two
when that last big storm touched down
Down here in Martyrtown