Randy Newman - My Country текст песни

This is pretty damn close to the way I grew up. The family time was consumed every night with watching television: my mother in a chair, dad on the sofa, me lying on the floor and my brother sitting behind me. That was our family unit, and it's something I was very comfortable with. When I can get my wife and kids to watch television with me, I get a sense of comfort - it's like what I remember. As long as they're watching, I don't have to; I read or something. But at least we're all there together.

The guy in the song doesn't understand why his kids would come over to his house. He thinks, "They have their own TVs; why do they want to come over and watch mine? If you have a television, why would you go anywhere?" That's where this person lives - it's his country, televisionland. When I go see my father, he just wants me to go home so he can watch "Matlock." But I've felt the same thing. I'm watching a ball game and one of my kids threatens to come over, and I say to myself, "Shit." Hopefully I'm not that bad, but I'm pretty close to it.