Songfacts®:

• This reflective tune about remembering what was great about one's hometown, years after moving away was penned by Nashville songwriters Luke Laird, Ashley Gorley and Hillary Lindsey. Underwood first heard the song on her drive back to her hometown of Checotah, Oklaholma, where her parents still live.
• The song's narrator learns to embrace the comforts of her hometown, years after its discomforts drove her away. Speaking with NPR's Guy Ruz, Underwood said the song's lyrics reflects how she feels about Checotah. She said: "That line about thank God for county lines that welcome you back in when you were dying to get out, that was me, you know? I'd sit around - and everyone does this. There's always nothing to do in your town, right? So when I was younger, I would just think, oh, my gosh, like, there's a whole world out there and I'm not seeing it. I'm here, you know, I can't wait to leave. And soon as I left, all I wanted to do was go home."
• Carrie admitted to The Boot that she wasn't interested in the song at first glance. "I saw the title, 'Thank God For Hometowns' and I thought [here is] another 'I love my truck. I love my hometown. I love my mama,' another one of those. There are so many great ones about small towns, but there's just a lot out there. I was thinking, 'That's just going to be another static song' and then I listened to it and just the way it starts, talking to your mom, I was like 'these are all things my mom would say.'"