Gary, Indiana 1959 - Dave Alvin

I’m old, weak and grey and I’m running out of time

Yeah, but you should have seen me, brother, when I was young and in my prime

Back in Gary, Indiana in 1959

I was a steel working man with 2 kids and loving wife

And the Union was strong, smokestacks burning day and night

Back in Gary, Indiana in 1959

But then the accountants and lawyers and bosses at U.S. Steel

Sent down the word that we had to take their rotten deal

But from Birmingham to Pueblo, Oakland to Allentown

The workers got together and we shut the Big Boys down

The President and Supreme Court tried to force us off the line

Back in Gary, Indiana in 1959

Now the years have disappeared in the blink of an eye

And I feel like a stranger in world that isn’t mine

My dear wife died, my kids all moved away

Cause there’s nothing round here to make them want to stay

Cause the factories are in ruins, decent jobs are hard to find

And you can’t get ahead no matter how hard you try

Cause the Big Boys make the rules, tough luck for everyone else

And out on the streets, brother, it’s every man for himself

But I still remember when we marched side by side

Back in Gary, Indiana in 1959

Don’t bury my body, brother, when it’s my time to die

Just throw me in that smelter and let my ashes fly

Back home to Gary, Indiana in 1959