Allentown (song)

"Allentown" is a famous Billy Joel song, which appeared on Joel's albums, The Nylon Curtain (1982) and Greatest Hits: Volume II (1985). The song depicts the resolve of the residents of Allentown, Pennsylvania amidst the rough and hardened life that characterizes this East Coast, industrial city. "Allentown" also references nearby Bethlehem, home of the then-declining (and now defunct) Bethlehem Steel Corporation.

In "Allentown," representing the challenges associated with the demise of American industry for Allentownians, Joel sings: "They never taught us what was real. Iron and coke. And chromium steel. And we're waiting here in Allentown."

"Allentown" was the lead track on The Nylon Curtain. The album itself was the seventh best-selling album of the year in 1982.

External link

• Lyrics to "Allentown".