I was born in a small town, Southeastern Tennessee
Raised on a farm my daddy said would someday belong to me
I dreamed at night of the Broadway lights the big city was calling me
I left the crops and the fields against my daddy's will
On the day I turned eighteen

Well, I kept those wheels turning all the way to Hollywood
And this rebel's boyhood dream came true like I always knew it would
But this glamour town can wear you down, leave you crying in the streets
And as the years went by I started wishing I was back in Tennessee

And wherever this road leads
Wherever it takes me
My heart will always be
Back in Tennessee

I left California and that child in me behind
I roamed around from town to town, from line to county line
I was just too proud to go back now after all I'd said and done
Knowing my old man would never understand just how far I'd come

And wherever this road leads
Wherever it takes me
My heart will always be
Back in Tennessee

Now my days are numbered, I could go at any time
I spent my last days reliving things all over in my mind
But I'm a happy man cause I've got plans to finally go back home
To a little piece of ground back in my hometown underneath a stone

And it says
Wherever this road leads
Wherever it takes me
My heart will always be
Back in Tennessee
Back in Tennessee