Allentown – English Lyrics

• By: Billy Joel
• Album: The Nylon Curtain

Lyrics & Translation

Discover the story behind Billy Joel's iconic song "Allentown," a powerful ballad that encapsulates the struggles and resilience of working-class America in the face of industrial decline. Explore the song's poignant lyrics and learn how it became an anthem for a generation grappling with broken promises and economic hardship. Through "Allentown," gain insight into the socio-economic landscape of the 1980s and appreciate the enduring spirit of communities like Allentown, Pennsylvania.

[English]

(train whistle blows)

("Allentown")

♪ 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 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 ♪

♪ Oh oh oh ♪

♪ 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 had a pretty good shot ♪

♪ To get at least as far as their old man got ♪

♪ But 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 today ♪

♪ Hey hey hey, oh oh oh ♪

♪ And it's getting very hard to stay ♪

♪ And we're living here in Allentown ♪