Used To Be A City

— David Rovics

"A song about a post-industrial US city. I had Danbury Connecticut in mind. Change a couple of lines and it could have been about most cities in the US."

---

I was young once
It was a long time ago
Things were different then
I thought that you should know
This old building
Was once a factory
We made Stetsons
Your grandpa and me
It wasn't easy but at least
Life was going down
There used to be a city in this town.

This rusted railyard
Had a hotel and a couple of stores
We had good times here
Between the wars
It wasn't paradise
But there was music in the street
Right there is where your grandparents
First had a chance to meet
They got married in that church
I can still see her wedding gown
There used to be a city in this town.

When the change came
It started one by one
First the layoffs
Then the factory was gone
Then came the highways
The suburbs and Wal-Mart
That was the final blow
That tore this place apart
But it seems like just last year
When there were people all around
There used to be a city in this town.

The census says there's people here
But I think someone's confused
Just look out at these sidewalks
They're not being used
You know when a city dies
It doesn't die with grace
It just becomes a ruin
Shouting this was once the place
Guess it's time to leave
But I don't know where I'd be bound
There used to be a city in this town.

---

From Songs for Mahmud CD. Personnel: David Rovics, everything except mastering; Essential Sound, mastering.

---

Music Archives

	May 2008 Pat Wynne When Rats Dream Pat Wynne, Bernard Gilbert Photo: NHGRI
	April 2008 George Mann Rest, Papa Rest George Mann Photo: Howard Goldbaum
	March 2008 Lynn Marie Smith Rebuilding The Union Movement Lynn Marie Smith, A Taste Of Honey Photo: Jim West
	February 2008 Dropkick Murphys Worker's Song (Handful of Earth) Ed Pickford Photos: Jim West, Fred Askew
	January 2008 Joe Uehlein Artists See The World In A Different Light Joe Uehlein, Dave Alvin Photo: FBI
	December 2007 Finest Kind Homeless Wassail Ian Robb Photo: Unknown
	November 2007 Guy Carawan Which Side Are You On? Florence Reece Photo: Harlan County Library
	October 2007 Paul Robeson Water Boy Avery Robinson Photos: Alan Lomax, Joseph John
	September 2007 Billy Bragg The Internationale Eugène Pottier, Pierre Degeyter, Billy Bragg Lithograph: Unknown
	August 2007 Si Kahn Go To Work On Monday Si Kahn Photo: Earl Dotter
	July 2007 The NewLanders The Altoona Freight Wreck Fred Tait-Douglas, Carson Robison Photo: Unknown
	June 2007 Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello And Now What? Zack de la Rocha Poster: Ahmed Resistol
	May 2007 Coco Brown I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night Alfred Hayes, Earl Robinson Oil: M. Baer
	April 2007 Ry Cooder Strike! Traditional, new verses by Ry Cooder Drawing: Vincent Valdez
	March 2007 Teresa Healy, Tom Juravich Bread and Roses by James Oppenheim, Tom Juravich Painting: Ralph Fasanella
	February 2007 Detroit Cultural Workers and Artists Caucus Walking 500 Days by Bob Vasseur Photos: Pat Beck, Daymon Hartley
	January 2007 New York City Labor Chorus Ode To Workers by Friedrich Schiller, L. V. Beethoven, Jeff Vogel Photo: Unknown
	December 2006 Charlie Bernhardt Children Of Abraham by John McCutcheon Photo: Jerry Anderson
	November 2006 Ted Warmbrand Who's The Criminal by Ted Warmbrand Photo: Mizue Aiseki
	October 2006 Woody Guthrie Buffalo Skinners by Woody Guthrie Painting: Neil Waldman.
	September 2006 Freedom Song Network Rockin' Solidarity by Ralph Chaplin, David Welsh Painting: Irving Fromer.
	August 2006 Seattle Labor Chorus Torn Screen Door by David Francey Photo: Eric Nelson
	July 2006 Emma's Revolution Bound For Freedom by Pat Humphries, Sandy O Puppet: SOAW Puppetistas
	June 2006 David Rovics Used To Be A City by David Rovics Photo: George Waldman
	May 2006 Len Wallace Leaving The Fishing Behind by Len Wallace Drawing: H. W. Elliott, J. W. Collins
	April 2006 Marc Blitzstein The Nickel Under The Foot by Marc Blitzstein Photo: Unknown
	March 2006 Judy Gorman Step By Step by American Miners Association, Waldeman Hille, Pete Seeger Cartoon: Mark Hurwitt
	February 2006 John Handcox The Planter And The Sharecropper by John Handcox Photo: Evelyn Munro Smith
	January 2006 Lynn Marie Smith U.N.I.O.N. by Henri Belolo, Jacques Morali, Lynn Marie Smith Photo: Rebecca Cook
	December 2005 John McCutcheon Christmas In The Trenches by John McCutcheon Drawing: Frederice Villiers
	November 2005 Davis Gloff, Michael Carluccio, Larry Schrock Radio, Guns, and Money by Steve Jones Poster: W. DeLappe, Holly Syrrakos
	October 2005 Chris Chandler, David Roe The Pageant of the Paterson Silk Strike by Chris Chandler, Lisa Stolarski John Henry's Slow Rag by David Roe Poster: Robert Edmund Jones
	September 2005 Brooklyn Women's Chorus We Were There by Bev Grant Ceramic mask: Geri Gventer
	August 2005 Anne Feeney Shut 'Cha Down by Anne Feeney Photo: United Airlines
	July 2005 Francisco Javier Herrera La Tierra by Eduardo Robledo Photo: Ellis Boal
	June 2005 Si Kahn He Lies In The American Land by Andrew Kovaly / Pete Seeger Photo courtesy of It's All Relative
	May 2005 Luci Murphy, Pam Parker Mother's Day by Peter Jones Publicity photos
	April 2005 Angel Martinez Memoirs of Bernardo Vega by Bernardo Vega, Juan Flores, César Andreu Iglesias Photo: Unknown
	March 2005 Pam Parker We Speak Louder Than Machines by Steve Jones Photo: Jim West
	February 2005 Maria Dunn Troublemaker by Maria Dunn Photo: Glenbow Archives
	January 2005 The Troublemakers Troublemakers Theme by Pauly Gailiunas Graphic: Ricardo Levins Morales
	December 2004 Joe Jencks Christmas In Mansfield by Joe Jencks Painting: Ray Tapajna
	November 2004 Kelly Wideman A Capella Banjo by Samuel Augustus Ward, Katherine Lee Bates, Earl Scruggs Photo: Jim West
	October 2004 Chris Bricker, George B, Utah Phillips, George Mann Hail To The Thief / Stupid's Pledge / I'm George W by George Mann, James Sanderson, Utah Phillips, Stephen Foster Cover art: Quenton of rushlimbaughonline.com
	September 2004 Laurel Blaydes, Joe Jencks, Chapman Zon What Will I Leave Behind / If I Had A Golden Thread by Si Kahn, Pete Seeger Photo: Jim West
	August 2004 Utah Phillips 1910 Spokane Free Speech Fight by Utah Phillips Photo: Roger Leisner
	July 2004 Dave Lippman I Hate Wal-Mart by Dave Lippman Photo: Jim West
	June 2004 Finland Station Unemployment Compensation Blues by Les Pine, Jerry Silverman Photo: Dorothea Lange, Farm Security Administration
	May 2004 John McCutcheon What It's Like by John McCutcheon Photo: Hormel Foods
	April 2004 Pete Seeger & Tao Rodriguez-Seeger A Little A' This 'N' That by Pete Seeger
	March 2004 Charlie King & Karen Brandow Moving Day / We Shall Not Be Moved by Fred Stanton / Traditional Photo: Unknown
	February 2004 Fruit Of Labor Solidarity by Fruit Of Labor
	January 2004 Tom Juravich Ring Some Changes by Tom Juravich Photo: Ellis Boal
	December 2003 Anne Feeney War On The Workers by Anne Feeney Photo: Jim West
	November 2003 Rebel Voices Hospital Workers by Paul McKenna Photo: Ellis Boal
	October 2003 Águila Negra El Mojado by Flaco Jimenez Photo: Jim West
	September 2003 Joe Uehlein Jerusalem by Steve Earle Photo: Ellis Boal
	August 2003 AFT Singers We're An On-Time Union by Dottie Peoples, Gloria Britton-Ellis Photo: Michael Campbell
	July 2003 Jon Fromer, Francisco Herrera I Cannot Sleep by Malvina Reynolds Photo: Ellis Boal
	June 2003 Pat Wynne Toxic Dreams by Pat Wynne Photo: Pat Wynne
	May 2003 Susan Lewis, Janet Stecher, Luci Murphy Mean Things Happening / Roll The Union On Ain't You Got A Right by John Handcox, Guy Carawan Photos: Labor Heritage Foundation, Highlander Center
	April 2003 George Mann & Julius Margolin If I Only Had A Brain by Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg, George Mann Photo: White House
	March 2003 Ray Korona The People Are In Charge by Ray Korona Album cover: David Beyda
	February 2003 Charlie King One Puppet Town by Charlie King Album cover: Mark Hurwitt
	January 2003 Pat Humphries No Sweat by Bev Grant Graphics: Margaret Randall, Pat Humphries
	December 2002 David King Reindeer Games by David King Doll: Linda Anderson
	November 2002 Bev Grant Labor Of Love by Bev Grant
	October 2002 Charlie Ray Fetty III The Mobile Inspirational by Charlie Ray Fetty III Colorado state fair parade float: USWA Local 2102
	September 2002 Joe Glazer The Mill Was Made Of Marble / I Ain't No Stranger Now by Joe Glazer

---

Songs not otherwise attributed were recorded at the annual Great Labor Arts Exchange in 2001, 2003, 2004, or 2005 at the National Labor College/George Meany Center, Silver Spring, Maryland. Engineers: Bob Barnes, Ellis Boal, Charlie Ray Fetty III, Joe Jencks, Ray Korona, George Mann, Dave Sless, Isaac Wilson.

Listen in streaming RealAudio on a 56k modem or better.
Download a free RealOnePlayer (Windows, Mac, or Linux) or QuickTime Player.

Listen at 56K | Listen at 256K