This Old Town

This Old Town - Nanci Griffith

This old town should've burned down in 1929

That's when we stood in line

Waiting for our soup

Swallowing our pride

And This old town should've burn 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

And This old town was built by hand

In the dust bowl of the motherland

There must be rock beneath this 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

This old town was built by hand

In the dust bowl of the motherland

There must be rock beneath this sand

Oh I'll be damned this town still stands

Somewhere in the distance

The city lights do shine

The sidewalks gleam with neon dreams

That call from time to time

When my children's children

Ask me why didn't I go

They say the heart of any town

Is the people that you've known

They'll always call you home

This old town was built by hand

In the dust bowl of the motherland

There must be rock beneath this sand

Oh I'll be damned this town still stands