Thanks for the suggestions, Aflem.  Certainly excellent examples of songs about being down on your luck, but I'm trying to go for a very narrow and specific theme:  someone who has experienced the upper part of town but has returned to the lower part of town.  Here are the key lines in each of my songs that contribute to my rather specific theme.

"I can't blame you for tryin'
I'm tryin' to make it too
So welcome back baby
To The Poor Side of town"


"He gets up each morning and he goes downtown
Where everyone's his boss and he's lost in an angry land
He's a little man
But then, he comes uptown each evenin' to my tenement
Uptown where folks don't have to pay much rent"



'Cause we're comin' back, comin' back to the homestead
Everythin' is packed, gettin' back to the homestead
I know that we could have made it
We had ideas in our heads
And I wish somehow we could have saved it
But we're gasoline Alley Bred"

Last edited by GrimsbyFan (September 2, 2022 11:41 am)

Thanks, Lorne.  "Sequel" definitely fits my theme and goes on my list.

Yes, that works for sure.

"Your dreams were your ticket out
Welcome back
To that same old place that you laughed about"

Last edited by GrimsbyFan (September 3, 2022 9:16 am)

GrimsbyFan, I hadn't heard of Gasoline Alley Bred before you mentioned it. So I looked up the lyrics and I'm wondering -- would the singer have possibly gone to a "better" town and was then returning to a "lesser" town? The reason I ask is that I was thinking originally of mentioning Chapin's W.O.L.D., but didn't because it involves the singer going to other cities and then coming back to where he started. Whether it qualifies or not, he clearly had an interest in the kind of theme that you're looking for here. 

Thanks for the further clarification. I had thought of another song involving going to other cities that also has an unclear aspect: Please Come To Boston by Dave Loggins. I think that the fact that he keeps trying to persuade his girlfriend to go elsewhere but isn't successful, would indicate that he'll return home to Tennessee -- and the info at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Please_Come_to_Boston would go along with that.
Another song that involves going to another city but then planning to go back home is Valdy's Simple Life (Ode To L.A.), a #16 hit in Canada in 1973. Although Los Angeles isn't named in the lyrics (which you can find at https://www.flashlyrics.com/lyrics/valdy/simple-life-ode-to-l-a-14), the reference in the title makes it clear that it's about the singer not wanting to live in L.A. and planning to return to where he's come from. 
I keep pushing the boundaries of what might qualify here, but I thought I'd mention these songs since you've liked what I've been suggesting so far. I've long had an affinity for these types of songs, so I thought of all of the ones I've mentioned within a few hours of reading your post. 

Just remembered another one that involves going to other cities and then returning to Tennessee: Rock N' Roll (I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life) by Mac Davis. 

Some more possibilities ...
Detroit City - Bobby Bare or Tom Jones
Do You Know The Way To San Jose - Dionne Warwick
Midnight Train To Georgia - Gladys Knight & The Pips
Take Me Back To Chicago - Chicago
Goin' Back To Indiana - Jackson 5