Bobby Bare - Detroit City

Detroit City

Bobby Bare performs "Detroit City" live on The Jimmy Dean Show.

"Detroit City" is a song written by Danny Dill and Mel Tillis, made famous by Billy Grammer (as "I Wanna Go Home"),country music singer Bobby Bare and Tom Jones. Bare's version was released in 1963. The song — sometimes known as "I Wanna Go Home" (from the opening line to the refrain) — was Bare's first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that summer, and became a country music standard.

The song won Bobby Bare a Grammy for the Best Country & Western Recording in 1963.

Bobby Bare Detroit City lyrics

Last night I went to sleep in Detroit City

I dreamed about them cotton fields of home

I dreamed about my mother, dear old pappy, sister and brother

And I dreamed about the girl who's been waitin' for so long

I want to go home

I want to go home

Oh, how I want to go home

Home folks think I'm big in Detroit City

From the letters that I write they think I'm just fine, yes they do

But by day I make the cars and by night I make the bars

If only they could read between the lines

‘cause you know I rode a freight train north to Detroit City

And after all these years I find I've just been wastin' my time

You know what I'm gonna do? 

I'm gonna take my foolish pride

Get it on a southbound freight and let it ride

I'm gonna go back to the loved ones

The ones I left waiting so far behind

I want to go home, yeah

I want to go home

Oh, how I want to go home (Can't you hear me?)

I want to go home

Whoa, baby I want to go home

Oh, how I want to go home (Somebody help me)

I want to go home, yeah

I want to go home, whoa oh

Oh, how I want to go home

Hmm, I want to go home...