Everything is slower here, everybody's got a union card  They get up on Sunday, go to church of their choice  Come back home, cook out in the backyard  And they call this the Great Midwest  Where the cornfields row and flow  They're all five years ahead of their time  Or 25 behind, I just don't know  All the young me talk about their 4-wheel drives  And how much money they're gonna make on Friday night  And they like to brag about how they mistreat their girlfriends  Hey, let's get drunk, party it up, start a fight  And they call this the Great Midwest  Sure make a hell of a car  And the old hearts, they race their way though the night  The upheaval of who they really are  Growin' up under normal conditions, television and radio  That's just about all of this whole world  That any of us get to see, get to know  And they call this the Great Midwest  Where you sacrifice body and soul  And no one really wants to get even  Most of us find it hard enough just lettin' go  Don't get me wrong, I ain't complaining  I ain't braggin', nor do I mean to place blame  That's just the way things are around here  And there's a future carryin' my name on it  Sayin', hey man, you gonna stick around here, you better get on it  If you're gonna stick around here  You better make yourself some real good friends  Well, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth  So I can't talk about the big city life  But if you wanna talk about bein' bored and runnin' away from yourself  Hell, I talk to you all night  And they call this the Great Midwest  Where livin' is just gettin' by  And people trade in their happiness  For a smokestack, a big money deal in the sky  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------