"Oh, the place hasn't changed
And that's why I'm gonna feel so strange
But I have to face the music bye and bye
I've been gone for a while, made some changes in my style
And they say you can't go home anymore
Well the streets all look the same,
And I'll have to play the game"
That pretty much sums up the meaning of the song. He's gone west, presumably to Hollywood. He's changed drastically since he went out there, and now he's going home for the first time. He's changed, but home hasn't. His parents, his sibling, his neighbors, the town, it's all the same as it was when he left. But he's changed, and so he feels strange, out of place, trying to be who he was when he lived there, instead of who he's become. He knows he can't stay, for many reasons. He's just coming home, to say goodbye to it one last time.
"Oh, the place hasn't changed And that's why I'm gonna feel so strange But I have to face the music bye and bye
I've been gone for a while, made some changes in my style And they say you can't go home anymore Well the streets all look the same, And I'll have to play the game"
That pretty much sums up the meaning of the song. He's gone west, presumably to Hollywood. He's changed drastically since he went out there, and now he's going home for the first time. He's changed, but home hasn't. His parents, his sibling, his neighbors, the town, it's all the same as it was when he left. But he's changed, and so he feels strange, out of place, trying to be who he was when he lived there, instead of who he's become. He knows he can't stay, for many reasons. He's just coming home, to say goodbye to it one last time.