YOUNGSTOWN

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
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"
Yeah 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 Monongahela 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 sweet Jenny, I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown

When I die I don't want no part of heaven, I would not do heavens work well
I pray the devil comes and takes me to stand in the fiery furnaces of hell

Published on The Ghost Of Tom Joad, played during that tour and during the whole Reunion tour, becoming soon one of its highlights. The live version recorded on Live In New York City is surely one of the best things that Bruce and the E Street Band have ever officially released. Also appeared during The Rising, Vote For Change, and Devils & Dust tours.

Even though it deserves to, it has never been on a single, except on a French promo in 1996.

This song is about the family line of steel workers in Youngstown. Pondering the corporate bosses who built a steel plant in Youngstown, used up the local resources, then walked away. The narrator's father says: "Them big boys did what Hitler couldn't do".