Allentown lyrics by Billy Joel
Well, we're livinghere 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 in 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 stay
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
and chromium steel
and we're waiting
here in Allentown
But they've taken
all the coal from the ground
And the union people
crawled away
Every child has
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 place
Well, I'm living
here in Allentown
and it's hard to
keep a good man down
But I won't be
getting up today
And it's getting
very hard to say
and we're living
here in Allentown
