Uncle Kracker, ‘My Hometown’ – Song Review

Uncle Kracker's new song 'My Hometown' is very inclusive. The upbeat, easy-cheesy country single drops almost a dozen towns and big cities across America, but in trying to embrace everyone, Kracker connects with very few.

The alliteration in the opening lyric gives one hope for the first single from Uncle Kracker's upcoming 'Postcards From Home' album. "Sweet southern smell of summer in Savannah / Tailgate drop Tuscaloosa, Alabama that's my hometown / Yeah that's my hometown," he sings. Each lyric features a new geographic epicenter that is also, somehow, his hometown.

"Trash can fire, north Detroit / Seventh inning stretch Chicago, Illinois / That's my hometown / America's my hometown," he sings later in the song. It's interesting that the Michigander picked such an unflattering image of Detroit, a city he's proudly called his own in the past.

It's doubtful Kracker was trying to be mean -- maybe the songwriter was just looking for a good rhyme. Insincerity plagues the somewhat store-bought lyrics. It's always dangerous to record a song that celebrates America in this way because when you miss, it comes across insincere pandering.

"We got blue collar people / Little pink houses / White church steeples / Wishes in a fountain / If you know every name on your street and you know them then you know me / That's my hometown / America's my hometown," he sings during the chorus. The song rides along on a catchy melody, but the unoriginal message leaves one wanting more fulfillment.

Listen to Uncle Kracker, 'My Hometown'