The Day They Closed the Factory Down
Harry Chapin

She said, I watch him walk down Main Street A sweet one man parade.
He'd tip his hat and just like that another score he'd made
I'd watch the girls all watch him; moths drawn to the flame.
The money showed, the laughter flowed from the way he played the game.
He played the game.

Some said he was a rambler, some said he was a rake .
Some said he was a gambler, some said he was a fake.
But I knew him like no one else, a gentleman was he.
His days belonged to himself, his nights belonged to me.
Belonged to me.

And they're talkin' in the town square,
In the taverns and the shops
I hear them talkin' everywhere.
Their talkin' never stops.
But all their words of wisdom won't make you go away.
The day they closed the factory down they had nothing,
Nothing left to say.

She said, I take care of my momma now, since my father died.
I'm raising baby brother, too, the way my father tried.
His thirty years in the factory ended in that furnace blast.
But they settled up for ten bucks a week and the bitterness is past,
It did not last.

So they're moving somewhere else now
With their cloths and fabric press. They found themselves another town where they'll make shirts for less.
And that is why he said last night he won't watch the old town die.
But I would not take what he tried to leave, when he told me 'Good bye'
Ah, it's good bye

And they're talkin' in the town square,
In the taverns and the shops.
I hear them talkin' everywhere.
Their talkin' never stops.
But all their words of wisdom won't make you go away.

The day they closed the factory down they had nothing,
Nothing left to say
So they're talkin' of the changes the closing brings about.
Talkin' of the hard times and the young folks moving out.
Yes, they're talking as if talking can make everything all right.
But all the talking ever done won't bring him back tonight.
Ah, tonight.

And they're talkin' talkin' talkin' talkin'
Talkin' in the shops
I hear them talkin' everywhere.
Their talkin' never stops.
But all their words of wisdom won't make you go away.
The day they closed the factory down they had nothing
Nothing left to say.


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Lyrics by Harry Chapin

  30,000 Pounds of Bananas   A Better Place To Be   A Lot of Lonely People Tonight   A Quiet Little Love Affair   And the Baby Never Cries   Anthem   Any Old Kind of Day   Babysitter   Barefoot Boy   Basic Protest Song   Bluesman   Bummer   Burning Herself   Calluses   Caroline   Cat's In The Cradle   Cat's InThe Cradle   Cat's In The Cradle   Cats In The Cradle   Changes   Circle   Copper   Corey's Coming   Corey's Coming   Could you put your Light on Please?   Could You Put Your Light On, Please   Country Dreams   Dance Band on the Titanic   Dancin' Boy   Dancin' Boy   Dancing Boy   Dirt Gets Under the Fingernails   Dogtown   Dreams Go By   Empty   Everybody's Lonely   Everybody's Lonely   Fall In Love With Him   Flowers Are Red   Get On With It   God Babe You've Been Good To Me   God Babe, You've Been Good For Me   God Babe, You've Been Good For Me   Greyhound   Halfway to Heaven   I Do It For You Jane   I Don't Want To Be President   I Don't Want To Be President   I Finally Found It, Sandy   I Miss America   I Wanna Learn a Love Song   I Want to Learn a Love Song   I Wonder What Happened To Him   I Wonder What Would Happen to Him   I Wonder What Would Happen to this World   If My Mary Were Here   If You Want to Feel   It Seems You Only Love Me When It Rains   Jenny   Jubilation   Last Of The Protest Singers   Last Stand   Laugh Man   Legends of the Lost and Found   Let Time Go Lightly   Love Is Just Another Word   Mail Order Annie   Manhood   Mercenaries   Mismatch   Mr. Tanner   My Old Lady   Northwest 222   November Rain   November Rains   Odd Job Man   Old College Avenue   Old Folkie   On the Road to Kingdom Come   One Light in a Dark Valley   Paint A Picture Of Yourself   Paint A Picture of Yourself (Michael)   Pigeon Run   Poor Damned Fool   Pretzel Man   Remember When the Music   Remember When the Music (Reprise)   Roll Down the River   Salt And Pepper   Sandy   Saturday Morning   Sequel   She Is Always Seventeen   She Sings Songs Without Words   Shooting Star   Short Stories   Silly Little Girl   Six String Orchestra   Sniper   Somebody Said   Someone Keeps Calling My Name   Sometime Somewhere Wife   Sometime, Somewhere Wife   Song for Myself   Song Man   Sounds Like America To Me   Star Tripper   Stop Singing These Sad Songs   Story of a Life   Stranger with the Melodies   Sunday Morning Sunshine   Tangled Up Puppet   Taxi   The Mayor of Candor Lied   The Parade's Still Passing By   The Parade's Still Passing By   The Rock   The Same Sad Singer   The Shortest Story   There Only Was One Choice   There's Alot of Lonely People Tonight   They Call Her Easy   Up On the Shelf   Vacancy   W.O.L.D   W.O.L.D.   W*O*L*D   We Grew Up A Little Bit   We Were Three   What Made America Famous   What Made America Famous?   Why Do Little Girls   Why Do Little Girls?   Why Should People Stay the Same   Winter Song   Woman Child   Word Wizard   You Are the Only Song

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