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...
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
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 stay...
And we're living here
in Allentown