Purdy's albums "Paris in the Morning" and "You Can Tell Georgia" have sold a combined 80,000 single downloads online worldwide.[citation needed] His catalog of music has sold over 800,000 single downloads worldwide.[1] A regular at The Hotel Café in Los Angeles, Purdy traveled to the UK with Tom McRae in 2006 as part of McRae's Hotel Cafe Tour.
His appearance at the Wireless Festival in Leeds led to a special request from The Who member Pete Townshend and his girlfriend Rachel Fuller to play with them at their acoustic In the Attic Series shows. Purdy also began to affiliate with The Giving Tree Band starting in 2012, performing live shows in conjunction on a tour across America.
All of his albums are available for free listening on his homepage. His song, 'Wash Away (Reprise)', was featured on the hit ABC TV series, Lost, while Grey's Anatomy additionally featured 'I Love the Rain the Most,' 'The City,' 'Far Away Blues,' and 'Suitcase.' House MD featured 'Rainy Day Lament' and 'Good Days'.
Purdy's song "Mary" (off the album Julie Blue) was featured in the film The Secret Life of Bees. He has also had a song in the movie starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long, "Going the Distance", the song entitled, Miss Me. Several of Purdy's songs are featured in the 2013 film Straight A's. Also, Purdy's song "Outlaws" was featured in the movie "A Case of You". Purdy played the lead role of Elliott and composed the score for the feature film.
This Town
Joe Purdy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Momma didn't know where she was,
She nearly started a riot.
She called the police to check it out.
Took her boyfriend down town.
He thought he was a criminal.
Yeah, he though he was a real hard case.
Oh what a day,
In this town.
Was a Friday night football game,
Down at the high school stadium.
She was a cheerleader,
With her quarterback sneaking out behind the bleachers to play.
Cause they don't care what people say,
In this town.
Nothin' ever changes in this town.
And the story's always the same one in this town.
And I thank you Lord for keepin' us safe,
And I thank you mother for making us pray.
She is a single mother workin' at a restaurant.
Under protective custody.
And every day a boy reminds her of what they lost,
By movin' away from the city.
She says I know that you miss your friends in L.A.
But at least your father is so far away,
From this town.
From this town.
Nothin' ever changes in this town.
And the story's always the same one in this town.
And I thank you Lord for keepin' us safe,
And I thank you mother for making us pray.
For making us pray.
There's an old man on a front porch swing,
And he's always talkin' to nobody.
But if you ever stop to listen,
You might learn a thing or two.
Yeah, I'm talkin' to you.
You see, once he was a young man.
And he was holdin' a young girls hand.
And they where walking' down by the lake,
And about nineteen-forty-eight,
And they had their first kiss.
Oh, with the moon shining down,
And they had the true love.
Oh, it really could be found.
In this town.
Oh, in this town.
Oh.
Yeah, in this town.
Yeah, in this town.
Nothin' ever changes in this town.
And the story's always the same one in this town.
And I thank you Lord for keepin' us safe,
And I thank you mother for making us,
Oh, for making us pray.
For making us pray.
In this town.
Oh, in this town.
It's just the way it goes in this town.
It's just the way things go in this town.
Joe Purdy’s “This Town” tells a story of a small town where nothing ever changes. The first verse describes a girl walking with love in her eyes, but causing a riot and getting her boyfriend taken down to the police station. The second verse tells of a Friday night football game, where a cheerleader and quarterback sneak away to be together. The town is unchanging, and these stories are always the same. The song ends with an old man reminiscing about his youth and teenage love in the town.
The lyrics highlight the idea of feeling trapped and stagnant in a small town. The first verse describes the close-mindedness of some of the townspeople, as the girl’s affection is mistaken for trouble. The second verse highlights the hypocrisy of a conservative town that looks down on teenage romantic relationships while simultaneously praising their football team. The sense of resignation and hopelessness in this town, where everything remains the same and there is little room for growth, is pervasive throughout the song.
Overall, “This Town” is a reflection on the limitations of living in a small, stagnant place. The song suggests that the only way to escape is to move away and find somewhere with more opportunities for growth and change.
Line by Line Meaning
She was walkin' with lovin' in her eyes.
A girl was walking with love in her eyes
Momma didn't know where she was,
Her mother was unaware of her location
She nearly started a riot.
Her mother almost caused chaos
She called the police to check it out.
Her mother called the police for investigation
Took her boyfriend down town.
Her boyfriend was taken to downtown
He thought he was a criminal.
Her boyfriend thought he was a bad person
Yeah, he though he was a real hard case.
Her boyfriend thought he was tough
Oh what a day,
It was a remarkable day
Oh what a waste,
It was a waste of time
In this town.
Refers to the current town being talked about
Was a Friday night football game,
It was a Friday night and there was a football game
Down at the high school stadium.
The football game was held at the high school stadium
She was a cheerleader,
The girl was a cheerleader
With her quarterback sneaking out behind the bleachers to play.
She was with the quarterback sneaking out to play behind the bleachers
Cause they don't care what people say,
They don't care about people's opinions
In this town.
Refers to the current town being talked about
Nothin' ever changes in this town.
The town does not change much over time
And the story's always the same one in this town.
The story remains the same in this town
And I thank you Lord for keepin' us safe,
The singer is thankful to the Lord for keeping them safe
And I thank you mother for making us pray.
The singer is thankful to his mother for making them pray
She is a single mother workin' at a restaurant.
She is a single mother and works at a restaurant
Under protective custody.
She is under protective custody
And every day a boy reminds her of what they lost,
A boy reminds her of what she lost
By movin' away from the city.
She lost something by moving away from the city
She says I know that you miss your friends in L.A.
She understands that the boy misses his friends in LA
But at least your father is so far away,
At least his father is far away
From this town.
Refers to the current town being talked about
There's an old man on a front porch swing,
There's an old man on a front porch swing
And he's always talkin' to nobody.
The old man is always talking to nobody
But if you ever stop to listen,
If you stop to listen
You might learn a thing or two.
You might learn something from him
Yeah, I'm talkin' to you.
The singer is addressing the listener
You see, once he was a young man.
The old man was once a young man
And he was holdin' a young girls hand.
He was holding a young girl's hand
And they where walking' down by the lake,
They were walking down by the lake
And about nineteen-forty-eight,
Refers to the year 1948
And they had their first kiss.
They had their first kiss
Oh, with the moon shining down,
The moon was shining down
And they had the true love.
They had true love
Oh, it really could be found.
True love could really be found
In this town.
Refers to the current town being talked about
Nothin' ever changes in this town.
The town does not change much over time
And the story's always the same one in this town.
The story remains the same in this town
And I thank you Lord for keepin' us safe,
The singer is thankful to the Lord for keeping them safe
And I thank you mother for making us pray.
The singer is thankful to his mother for making them pray
For making us pray.
His mother made them pray
In this town.
Refers to the current town being talked about
Oh, in this town.
Refers to the current town being talked about
It's just the way it goes in this town.
The way things happen in this town
It's just the way things go in this town.
The way things happen in this town
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: JOE PURDY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind