Papa went down to that old mining town.
Mama sat down, she’s raising kids on her own.
And neither one could dare to stand up in the mirror
And say I love you my dear, I couldn’t wipe away your fears, but now I know these times will pass.
These monsters will not last.

Johnny fell down. He’s picking gravel from his knees.
Kadie knelt down. She tried to wipe away his tears.
But neither one had learned to stand up in the mirror
And say I love you my dear. I couldn’t wipe away your tears, but now I hope these times will pass.
These monsters cannot last.

But everyone knows that everyone comes HOME.
To say I love you my dear. I’ll always wipe away your fears ’cause now I know these times have passed.
These monsters could not last
These monsters had no chance.

And Papa came HOME
They’re tucking kids down to dream.

Home. It’s both a literal sense of place and an internal emotional landscape. I’m a realistic landscape painter; a physical home is something I can easily capture on a canvas. But I don’t just want to paint a house, I want my art to capture something of the home we each hold inside, where we keep our emotions and experiences. Our internal emotional landscape includes everything that runs the gamut from nostalgia, joy, and compassion to fear, adversity, and heartbreak. If we’re fortunate, we can find a place for each of these feelings and make our inner home into a place where we love and accept ourselves and radiate that love outward toward others.
I wrote this song for my gallery show, “Home,” which explored those places we hold dear through the lens of 2020, a time when we all experienced ourselves and our environment in a new and challenging way. I performed it at the opening this past summer, packed shoulder-to-shoulder with my community, the people who love and support my endeavors and whom I love and care for deeply.
Sometimes the love for ourselves and others gets lost along the way, but hopefully we can always make our way back home.

Richie Carter was born and raised in the Flathead Valley, where he currently lives in between painting excursions around the globe.