Allentown // Billy Joel
‘Allentown’ is an anthem for the working class within the American manufacturing industry. Billy Joel originally wrote the song about a town named Levittown, a town in long island in which Joel had grew up in. He soon remembered reading about the decline in the steel industry in the Lehigh Valley, leading to the song be renamed ‘Allentown’.
Even though the steel industry came out of a neighbouring city – Bethlehem – Allentown’s focus is on those of the working class coping with the decline of the American manufacturing industry. Joel’s lyrics focus on the depressed blue-collar residents of Allentown after Bethlehem Steel’s closure. Throughout the song, Joel incorporates sounds from the steel industry, with the sound of a rolling mill converting steel after each chorus.
Words by Sophie McEvoy