This Old Town Lyrics

This Old Town
Words & music by Janis Ian & Jon Vezner

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

Chorus

This old town was built by hand
In the dust bowl of the Mother Land
There must be rock beneath thus 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
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

Chorus

Bridge