Daddy’s old Ford rattled down a gravel line
Rust on the fenders but it always ran fine
AM dial humming through the summer heat
Three chords and the truth riding shotgun with me

Mama said “boy don’t forget where you’re from”
Hard work, calloused hands, never run
I learned life ain’t clean, but it’s honest and true
From a worn-out seat and a sky full of blue

Those songs taught me how to stand my ground
How to lose, how to love, how to stick around

I was raised on rust and radio (yeah)
Backroad nights and a slow burn glow
Windows down, letting heartbreak go
Every mile wrote a part of my soul
From busted speakers to the roots I know
That’s the sound of the life I chose
I was raised on rust and radio (oh no)

Friday night lights on a county field
Small town dreams but the pain was real
Learned to sing loud when the world felt low
Let the melody tell me what I didn’t know

Every scar got a story behind
Every song felt like it was mine
If it played on repeat, I believed it too
Those words felt like something I lived through

Those voices coming through that static sound
Showed me how to get back up off the ground

I was raised on rust and radio (yeah)
Hand-me-down hope and a heart that’s broke
Still standing tall when the lights go low
Every note keeps pulling me home
From busted speakers to the roots I know
That’s the sound of the life I chose
I was raised on rust and radio

When the world got heavy, I turned that dial
Found a little peace for a little while
Some folks pray, some folks run
I found God in a song and a setting sun

Yeah I was raised on rust and radio (oh yeah)
Tin-roof truth and a gravel soul
Every lyric carved me whole
Every mile made me who I know
From busted speakers to the roots I know
That’s the sound of the life I chose
I was raised on rust and radio

Still tuning in, letting it save me slow