Youngstown

Annotation — Bruce Springsteen Songs

The song "Youngstown" on the Springsteen album The Ghost of Tom Joad (Columbia Records # 481650 2) told the story of the growth of Youngstown, Ohio on the back of its mining industry, and the subsequent economic decline of the town. It's narrated by a Vietnam War veteran, whose father fought in World War Two - like many songs during the Vietnam War and in the post-war era, it sought to draw a connection between generations fighting wars for the U.S.A.1 It noted that the industry helped created the weapons of war, including the Civil War: "they made the cannon balls that helped the union win the war", as well as World War Two. The narrator noted "my daddy... come home from World War Two", and "these mills they built the tanks and bombs that won this country’s wars". This continued with more contemporary conflict: "we sent our sons to Korea and Vietnam" - but these, they "we’re wondering what they were dyin’ for". However, the industry died out and the economy of the town was abandoned: "now the yards just scrap and rubble", and so they "did what Hitler couldn’t do". Sources1Wikipedia: Youngstown (song)↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: Here in north east Ohio / Back in eighteen-o-three / James and Danny Heaton / Found the ore that was linin’ yellow creek / They built a blast furnace / Here along the shore / And they made the cannon balls / That helped the union win the war / Here in Youngstown / Here in Youngstown / My sweet Jenny, I’m sinkin’ down / Here darlin’ in Youngstown Well my daddy worked the furnaces / Kept ’em hotter than hell / I come home from ‘Nam worked my way to scarfer / A job that’d suit the devil as well / Taconite, coke and limestone / Fed my children and made my pay / Then smokestacks reachin’ like the arms of god / Into a beautiful sky of soot and clay / Here in Youngstown / Here in Youngstown / My sweet Jenny, I’m sinkin’ down / Here darlin’ in Youngstown Well my daddy come on the Ohio works / When he come home from World War Two / Now the yards just scrap and rubble / He said, “Them big boys did what Hitler couldn’t do” / These mills they built the tanks and bombs / That won this country’s wars / We sent our sons to Korea and Vietnam / Now we’re wondering what they were dyin’ for / Here in Youngstown / Here in Youngstown / My sweet Jenny, I’m sinkin’ down / Here darlin’ in Youngstown From the Monongaleh valley / To the Mesabi iron range / To the coal mines of Appalacchia / The story’s always the same / Seven-hundred tons of metal a day / Now sir you tell me the world’s changed / Once I made you rich enough / Rich enough to forget my name / In Youngstown / In Youngstown / My…

About the artist

Born Freehold, New Jersey, USA (23 September 1949). Currently Rumson, New Jersey.

Themes

Vet · Korea · WW2

In collections

Bruce Springsteen Songs