This Old Town - Janis Ian

This old town should’ve burned down in 1929

That’s when we stood in line

Waiting for our soup

Swallowing our pride

This old town should’ve burned down in 1931

When the rain refused to come

Air filled up our bellies

Dust filled up our lungs

And we thought our time had come

This old town was built by hand

In the dust bowl of the motherland

There must be rock beneath the sand

Oh, I’ll be damned

This town still stands

This old town should’ve burned down in 1944

When the last men went to war

They came back different

If they came back at all

And this old town should’ve burned down in 1956

That’s when the twister hit

And all our hopes were buried

Beneath the boards and bricks

And we almost called it quits

But this old town was built by hand

In the dust bowl of the motherland

There must be rock beneath this sand

I’ll be damned

This town still stands

Bridge:

Somewhere in the distance

The city lights do shine

The sidewalks gleam with neon dreams

That call from time to time

When my children’s children

Ask me why I didn’t go

I say the heart of any town

Is the people that you’ve known

And they’ll always call you home

And this old town was built by hand

In the dust bowl of the motherland

There must be rock beneath the sand

I’ll be damned

This town still stands