Allentown
Billy JoelVersion1
90
Chords in this song
Strum
D-DU-UDU
3x
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
2x
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
2x
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,
2x
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
And it's getting very hard to staaaaaaaaaaaaaay.
And we're living here in Allentown.
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Readable chord sheet for Allentown by Billy Joel
[C] [D] [G] 3x [A]Well we're [Em]living here in [A]Allen[D]town And they're [Am]closing all the [D]factories [G]down Out in [Em]Bethlehem they're [A]killing [Bm]time [A]Filling out [Em]forms [D]Standing in [A]line. Well our [Em]fathers fought the [A]Second World [D]War Spent their [Am]weekends on the [D]Jersey [G]Shore Met our [Em]mothers at the [A]US[Bm]O [A] [A]Asked them to [Em]dance [D]Danced with them [A]slow[A7] And we're [Em]living here in [A]Allen[D]town. But the [F]restlessness was [G]handed [C]down And it's [Am]getting very [D]hard to [Em]staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa[Bm]aaaaaaaay[C] [D] [G] [C] [D] [G] 2x [A]Well we're [Em]waiting here in [A]Allen[D]town For the [Am]Pennsylvania [D]we never [G]found For the [Em]promises our [A]teachers [Bm]gave [A]If we worked [Em]hard [D]If we be[A]haved[A7]. So the [Em]graduations [A]hang on the [D]wall But they [Am]never really [D]helped us at [G]all No they [Em]never taught us [A]what was [Bm]real [A]Iron or [Em]coke, [D]Chromium [A]steel[A7]. And we're [Em]waiting here in [A]Allen[D]town. But they've [F]taken all the [G]coal from the [C]ground And the [Am]union people [D]crawled [Em]awaaaaaaaaaa[Bm]aaaaaaaaa[C]y [D] [G] [C] [D] [G] 2x [F]Every child had a [G]pretty good [F]shot To get at [G]least as far as [F]their old man [Bb]got. [F]If something happened on the [G]way to that [F]place They threw an American flag [G]in our face[F], [G] [C] [D] [G] 2x [A]Well I'm [Em]living here in [A]Allen[D]town And it's [Am]hard to keep a [D]good man [G]down. But I [Am]won't be getting [D]up to[Em]daaaaaaaaaaaa[Bm]aaaaaayyyyyyy[C]y [D] [G] [C] [D] [G] [C] [D] [G] And it's [Am]getting very [D]hard to [Em]staaaaaaa[Bm]aaaaaaa[C]y.[D] [G] And we're [Am]living here in [D]Allen[G]town. [C] [G]