“Turning Home” by David Nail
The idea the title of this song is based on is the singer being unable to part ways with his hometown. Or stated differently, memories of his high-school years, though not always perfect, were the most-enjoyable days of his life. Thus on top of reminiscing, he feels compelled to occasionally visit the area where he spent his teenage years.
First Verse
Thus in the first verse we find him roaming through the ‘hood, ‘trying to fill his mind up’ with images of the town before he sets forth. So the implication is that he has moved out, perhaps long ago. And the distance he has to traverse in order to come “home” is considerable, as in the first chorus he states “the miles are many”. Yet even when he is separated from “the old town”, he still ‘feels like he’s around’ due to the fond memories he has.
Second Verse
In the second verse he is reminiscing about old high-school football games and chillin’ with his peers. Amongst his dearest memories are them hanging out and getting noticeably inebriated. And he has many ‘stories he’ll never forget’ in that regard.
Final Verse
The final verse is about his high-school sweetheart. They took a chance and got serious. And whereas he was hoping their love would be a lasting one, in reality it didn’t survive their graduation from school. But even though things may not have materialized as he idealized, he still recognizes her as his “first love” and ‘sees her smiling’ in his mind, which ‘keeps him turning home’.
Conclusion
So at the end of the day we can say that the narrator will always be attached to his hometown. Yes, he may have already moved away. But the flashbacks he has, specifically from high school, makes him regularly miss the place even if he is not physically present.
Facts about “Turning Home”
The writers of this song are Scooter Carusoe and Kenny Chesney, with the latter intending to record the “Turning Home” himself. In fact after falling in love with the demo David Nail had to wait for Kenny to press out “a couple of different records” in hopes that he wouldn’t use it, which ultimately he did not.
And the producers of “Turning Home” are Mike Wrucke and Frank Liddell.
“Turning Home” is the third single from David Nail’s first album, “I’m About to Come Alive”. And the track was released by MCA Nashville on 25 January 2010.
The song performed modestly, reaching a peak of number 20 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs and 17 on their Bubbling Under Hot 100 list.
However, it was nominated for a Grammy – for Best Male Country Vocal Performance – in 2011.
Stephen Shepherd directed the music video to “Turning Home”. It was filmed in Kennett, Missouri, which is David Nail’s hometown. Indeed from the moment he heard the demo he deemed ‘all the imagery in the song something he could relate to’.
