Allentown Lyrics

Performed by Billy Joel

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 or 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.
If something happened on the way to that place
They threw an American flag in our face, 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.

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LOVE this song!!! | Reviewer: Anonymous | 12/21/11

This was one of Billy Joel's early social justice songs that talked about the plight of the guys who counted on going down to the steel mill in their town and working a job for life that would put them solidly in the middle class and keep them there through retirement. Starting with the Reagan administration, union busting began in earnest and as a result, our manufacturing industries began moving offshore to far off places like China and India and it's stayed there ever since, essentially gutting the middle class of this country. The first time I heard this song I fell in love with its message and I still think that it resonates today. Powerful song, and one of my Billy Joel favorites of his long songwriting career.

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Bethlehem Steel | Reviewer: Anonymous | 11/10/11

Billy actually saw first hand what all the people in Bethlehem (and the rest of the Lehigh Valley) were going through during the decline of Bethlehem Steel, while playing shows at colleges in The Valley. He only named it Allentown because obviously nothing rhymes with Bethlehem, haha.

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Some ironies in the song Allentown | Reviewer: Jeff doty | 10/31/11

Allentown is a railroad town but not a mining or steelmaking town. Billy mentions Bethlehem in the lyrics. This was the site of a huge integrated mill (coke, coal, limestone and iron ore in and steel out). The anthracite mining area is to the north of Allentown by quite a few miles (Mt. Carmel, Mahanoy City, Jim Thorpe, and Tamaqua would be examples). I understand that the title was chosen as it sounds best in the song.

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Silly Mayor | Reviewer: Bellhop | 8/8/11

Allentown Mayor Joe Dadonna, more gregarious than intelligent, presented Joel with the keys to the city and tried to get "Allentown" adopted as the "official song". Imagine: Your city's official song is about how it's going to hell. Allentown is Hispanic now. The sons of the steelworkers didn't stay.

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good song | Reviewer: Allison | 7/8/11

He's talking about the industry leaving America. All the mill jobs left the east coast and a lot of people were unemployed. We're talking about good, hard working people that could always find steady work in the mills...

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Interesting | Reviewer: April Boyer | 11/6/10

Well, I enjoy spending my free time writing reviews for songs on this website. Besides the point, I like this song, and the lyrics are really thought provoking. Did Billy know someone who worked in the mines? I know it was a really big hit for him back then.

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