Episode-127- TSP Rewind – Billy Joel’s Allentown – History Lesson, Prophecy or Both




The Survival Podcast show

Summary: Today is an episode of TSP Rewind, commercial free versions of past podcast episodes. Today’s episode was originally Episode-819- Billy Joel’s Allentown – History Lesson, Prophecy or Both and was originally published on Jan 12, 2012. The following are the original show notes from that episode.. Today we are going to do something completely different and look at the old Billy Joel hit from 1982, “Allentown”. My hope is after you hear today’s show you will fully understand what I mean when I say, “history, prophecy or both” in regard to the song. Join me today as we discuss… What “closing the factories down” was actually like Why unemployment was a national problem but worse in the coal and steel regions What the song means when talks about “weekends at the Jersey shore” The “restlessness” that was handed down “Graduations hang on the wall” today they are college degrees vs. high school diplomas The multiple broken promises that generation experienced What “filling out forms, standing in lines” means to us today What “hard to stay” is really all about The true nature of the WWII generation post war prosperity How “one word plastics” from the movie “The Graduate” relates to this song What “the threw and American flag in our face” was all about How the “flag in the face” relates to today How this song is really about one of the massive shifts in the world How this generation got caught in this shift Some of the other massive shifts on the past 200 years The real nature of the current shift   Lyrics of the Song 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 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 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, 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 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 Resources for Today’s Show Members Support Brigade TSP Gear Shop Join Our Forum Video of the Version of Allentown I Played The Original Video of Allentown (really drives home the “American flag in our face” line) Clip I played from the movie “The Graduate”   Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show. Also remember you can call in your questions and comments to 866-65-THINK (866-658-4465) and you might hear yourself on the air.