"Detroit City" is a song written by Danny Dill and Mel Tillis, made famous by Billy Grammer (as "I Wanna Go Home"),[2] country music singer Bobby Bare and Tom Jones.
Prior to Bobby Bare's success with "Detroit City," country singer Billy Grammer released his version of the Danny Dill-Mel Tillis penned song.
[4] The song is the working man's complaint, and "with its melody reminiscent of the 'Sloop John B,' describes the alienation felt by many rural southerners in the mid North," wrote country music historian Bill Malone.
Bare's version also features a spoken recitation following half of the second verse, before singing the refrain before the song's fade.
[7] Billy Grammer's "I Wanna Go Home" reached #18 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in early 1963.