From the recording Mainline

This tune is about one of my first true Toronto apartments; it was small, cold, everything was broken, and I could barely afford to make my rent. It was a long winter of working a few different jobs on top of playing music and all I wanted to do that winter was give up on the city and move back home to the country.
- Kyle Kirkpatrick

Lyrics

I came to town some years ago, a life I thought I’d find
But counting dimes to pay my rent ain’t what I had in mind
Rats in the alley, mice in the sink, and a subway shaking floor
Cold wind moans to chill your bones through a cracked and broken door

And I know, I wish that I could go back home
And I know, I wish that I could go back home

Took any work that I could find, I don’t mind paying dues
But frozen tracks and an aching back, I think I’m bound to lose
Now if I were a little bird, I’d spread my wings and fly
Away from these tall buildings, back to the open sky

Chorus

I sing and pick most every night for whiskey, beer, and wine
That’s all I need to keep me here and never have to pine
But sometimes when my floorboards shake and sirens hit my ears
I smell the grass next to the path and the river’s all I hear

Chorus