Allentown lyrics

Song information

Artist: Billy Joel
Album: The Nylon Curtain

Lyrics

Well we're living here in allentown
And they're closing all the factories down
Out in bethlehem they're killing time
Filling out forms
Standing in line

Well our fathers fought the second world war
Spent their weekends on the jersey shore
Met our mothers at the uso
Asked them to dance
Danced with them slow
And we're living here in allentown

But the restlessness was handed down
And it's getting very hard to staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
Aaaaaaah aaahhhhh ooooooooh ooooooh ohhhhhhh

Well we're waiting here in allentown
For the pennsylvania we never found
For the promises our teachers gave
If we worked hard
If we behaved

So the graduations hang on the wall
But they never really helped us at all
No they never taught us what was real
Iron and coke
Chromium steel

And we're waiting here in allentown
But they've taken all the coal from the ground
And the union people crawled awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah aaaaaaaaaaah aaaaaah

Every child had a pretty good shot
To get at least as far as their old man got
Something happened on the way to that place
They threw an american flag in our faaaaaaaace, oh oh oh

Well I'm living here in allentown
And it's hard to keep a good man down
But I won't be getting up todaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy
Aaaaaaaaaaah aaaaaaaaaaah aaaaaaaaah

Guitar solo

Aaaaaaah aaaaaaah aaaaaaah oh oh oh

And it's getting very hard to staaaaaaaaaaaaaay

And we're living here in allentown