Peak
53
Weeks
18
Score
974
Chart Year
2022
The video was directed by Patrick Tracy. It features Kelsea picturing an alternate life where she stayed in Knoxville, Tennessee instead of pursuing her dream as a country star interspersed with clips of her performance of the song with Chesney at the ACM Awards.
Kelsea Ballerini was born and raised in the East Tennessee city of Knoxville. This song is an ode to the singer's hometown and how her relationship to it changed after leaving. Ballerini also talks how about half of the people she knew growing up stayed in Knoxville, while the other half left. Some went north, some went south Still lookin' for a feelin' half of us ain't found So stay or leave Part of me will always be Half of my hometown "I wanted to ask what it's like going back home now," Ballerni explained to American Songwriter. "I think I was so eager to get out [of Knoxville] for so many years, because I wanted to be in Nashville, and I just wanted to be a country singer. [It wasn't] until writing for this album the last two years, that I realized [Knoxville] is one of the best places in the world." Ballerini's duet partner, Kenny Chesney, also hails from Knoxville. Speaking with Taste of Country Nights, Ballerini remembered a show she played at New York City's Playstation Theater back in April 2018. Chesney was also in the Big Apple at the time, and he noticed her name on a billboard outside the venue. "[He] took a photo of it, got my number and sent it to me, and said, 'I'm so proud of you, hometown girl,'" she recalled. Chesney was Ballerini's first and only choice to be her duet partner on this song because of their Knoxville link. However, the chances seemed remote as the country superstar rarely signs on to guest on an outside song. His previous featured artist credit was on Grace Potter & the Nocturnals' "Stars" back in 2012. Ballerini was determined to get Knoxville's most famous son on the track. As soon as she'd finished recording her vocal part, she sent it to Chesney as a text message. "Next day, he wrote back, and he was like, 'I love this song. It made me emotional listening to it,'" Ballerini recalled. "Because, you know, I think we have really similar upbringings." Kelsea Ballerini and Kenny Chesney delivered a soulful rendition of the song at the 2021 ACM Awards. Ballerini told Audacy's Kelly Ford the performance was a full-circle moment for her. She remembered driving around Knoxville, dreaming of being a big star one day as she listened to such songs as Chesney's 2004 hit "I Go Back," while "thinking how crazy it was he was from the same place." "If I could go tell her that we were going to sing this song about our hometown together on a stage like the ACMs," Ballerini added. "I'd just, I'd pass out." The song's visual unfolds a "what if" scenario as Ballerini imagines an alternate history of her staying in Knoxville. Director Patrick Tracy shot the scenes at the singer's high school and near her childhood home. "The whole idea of the video is playing out the hypothetical life that I probably would have had if I didn't leave," Ballerini told Audacy's Coop. "It was so beautiful, but at the same time I'm so glad that's not where my life led me." The song won for both Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year at the 2021 CMA Awards. They marked Ballerini's first CMA trophies and added to Chesney's long list of CMA wins.
Half of my high school got too drunk Half of my high school fell in love With the girl next door In their daddy's Ford Half of my main street's mini skirts Half of my main street's dressed for church It could use some rain And a fresh coat of paint Half of my hometown's still hangin' around Still talkin' about that one touchdown They're still wearin' red and black Go Bobcats, while the other half Of my hometown, they all got out Some went north, some went south Still lookin' for a feelin' half of us ain't found So stay or leave Part of me will always be Half of my hometown Half of our prom queens cut their hair Half of them think that it ain't fair The quarterback moved away and never came back Oh, half of my family is happy I left But my daddy knows that I won't forget Where I came from The same place where they came from Half of my hometown's still hangin' around Still talkin' about that one touchdown They're still wearin' red and black Go Bobcats, while the other half Of my hometown, they all got out Some went north, some went south Still lookin' for a feelin' half of us ain't found So stay or leave Part of me will always be Half of my hometown Half of my hometown, mm Back roads raise us Highways take us Memories make us wanna go back To our hometown, settle down Talk about that one touchdown Raise some kids in red and black Go Bobcats, while the other half Of my hometown was in the crowd They knew the words, they sang them loud And all I wanna do is make them proud 'Cause half of me will always be Knoxville, Tennessee My hometown 'Cause I'm half of my hometown
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nov 6, 2021 | 89 | 37 |
| 2 | Nov 13, 2021 | 87 | 39 |
| 3 | Nov 20, 2021 | 99 | 27 |
| 5 | Dec 4, 2021 | 92 | 34 |
| 6 | Dec 11, 2021 | 93 | 33 |
| 7 | Dec 18, 2021 | 92 | 34 |
| 10 | Jan 8, 2022 | 89 | 37 |
| 11 | Jan 15, 2022 | 53 | 73 |
| 12 | Jan 22, 2022 | 78 | 48 |
| 13 | Jan 29, 2022 | 56 | 70 |
| 14 | Feb 5, 2022 | 56 | 70 |
| 15 | Feb 12, 2022 | 55 | 71 |
| 16 | Feb 19, 2022 | 54 | 72 |
| 17 | Feb 26, 2022 | 56 | 70 |
| 18 | Mar 5, 2022 | 53 | 73 |
| 19 | Mar 12, 2022 | 63 | 63 |
| 20 | Mar 19, 2022 | 86 | 40 |
| 21 | Mar 26, 2022 | 91 | 35 |