A shortcut window into the Peril's soul

If you want to know who I am when you dig all the way down, below the yuppie facade and the consulting wardrobe and the life spent commuting and flying to work in one big city after another and the years I still can expect to spend in Houston in order to get nine college educations paid for...well, Little Big Town seems to have written this song expressly for me, lyrics, instrumentation, three-part interwoven verbal byplay at the end, midnight train, muddy water (only it was Brushy Creek, not Camp Creek), and all.

So, this is pretty much me, right here.

Except I never did like to fish all that much.

(Chorus:)
I feel no shame
I'm proud of where I came from
I was born and raised in the boondocks
One thing I know
No matter where I go
I keep my heart and soul in the boondocks

And I can feel
That muddy water running through my veins
And I can hear
That lullaby of a midnight train
It sings to me and it sounds familiar

(Chorus:)
I feel no shame
I'm proud of where I came from
I was born and raised in the boondocks
One thing I know
No matter where I go
I keep my heart and soul in the boondocks

And I can taste
That honeysuckle and it's still so sweet
When it grows wild
On the banks down at old Camp Creek
Yeah, and it calls to me like a warm wind blowing

(Chorus:)
I feel no shame
I'm proud of where I came from
I was born and raised in the boondocks
One thing I know
No matter where I go
I keep my heart and soul in the boondocks

It's where I learned about living
It's where I learned about love
It's where I learned about working hard
And having a little was just enough

It's where I learned about Jesus
And knowing where I stand
You can take it or leave it, this is me
This is who I am

Give me a tin roof
A front porch and a gravel road
And that's home to me
It feels like home to me

(Chorus:)
I feel no shame
I'm proud of where I came from
I was born and raised in the boondocks
One thing I know
No matter where I go
I keep my heart and soul in the boondocks
I keep my heart and soul in the boondocks

You get a line, I'll get a pole
We'll go fishing in the crawfish hole
Five-card poker on a Saturday night
Church on Sunday morning

(Three-part interweave)
You get a line, I'll get a pole
We'll go fishing in the crawfish hole
(Down in the boondocks)
Five-card poker on a Saturday night
Church on Sunday morning

(Three-part interweave)
You get a line, I'll get a pole
We'll go fishing in the crawfish hole
(Down in the boondocks)
Five-card poker on a Saturday night
Church on Sunday morning

Say a little prayer for me...

UPDATE: Also, it wasn't poker; it was spades or forty-two (the latter being a sort of domino version of bridge).

UPDATE: Found I did not approve of the original version, which violated some standards I have set for myself on the blog (it sounded way too whiney, among other things), and therefore rewrote it.