Youngstown

March 9, 2002

There are three people in the bus station
The floors have been mopped clean
This dreary burg has got to be
The saddest town I've ever seen

The telephones eat my quarters
And the cabbies never come
No alarm clock in the hotel room
And the people all think I'm dumb

I ask the machine for water
All it gives me is peach iced tea
My sweet baby I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown

The downtown streets are empty
As a Hollywood actor's brain
And every face I look at
Seems to shelter some kind of pain

The town hot spot is Denny's
Where all the lovely ladies go
Wearing iridescent stretch pants
And cartoon characters from head to toe

The wind and rain are piling up against me
And the beers are starting to sink in
Youngstown is a longtime loser
Just praying for a win

The prez has passed their precious tariffs
Like a con man lookin' for a deal
But none of that will stop the fall
Of the lumbering giant they call steel

Lonely storefronts are dotted
By miniature American flags
"We'll kill all them goddamn ragheads"
A laid off steelworker brags

"Area Congressman on Trial"
The headlines always say
But "Freedom Wins Sweeping Victory"?
Yeah, that'll be the day

I've got my headphones on
While the Greyhound wheels grind along
Back to my home sweet home Chicago
Baby, that's where I belong

Bring on the night-lights of my city
With all their seediness and sin
Take me back to that longtime loser
That's just praying for a win

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