Here in northeast Ohio, back in 1803
James and Dan Heaton found the ore that
was lining Yellow Creek.
They built a blast furnace here along the shore,
And they made the cannonballs that helped
the Union win the war.
Chorus:
Here in Youngstown
Here in Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I'm sinkin' down
Here darlin' in Youngstown
Well, my daddy worked the furnaces,
kept 'em hotter than hell
I come home from 'Nam, worked my way to scarfer
A job that would suit the devil as well
Taconite coke and limestone fed my
children and made my pay
Them smokestacks reaching like the arms of God
Into a beautiful sky of soot and clay
Chorus:
Here in Youngstown
Here in Youngstown
Sweet Jenny, I'm sinking down
Here, darling, in Youngstown
Well, my daddy come on the Ohio works
When he come home from World War Two.
Now the yard's just scrap and rubble
He said "Them big boys did what Hitler couldn't do."
These mills they built the tanks and bombs
That won this country's wars.
We sent our sons to Korea and Vietnam.
Now we're wondering what they were dying for.
Chorus:
Here in Youngstown
Here in Youngstown
My sweet Jenny, I'm sinking down
Here, darling, in Youngstown
From the Monongahela Valley to
the Mesabi iron range
To the coal mines of Appalachia,
the story's always the same
Seven-hundred tons of metal a day
Now sir, you tell me the world's changed
Once I made you rich enough
Rich enough to forget my name
Chorus:
In Youngstown
In Youngstown
My sweet Jenny, I'm sinking down
Here, darling, in Youngstown
When I die, I don't want no part of heaven
I would not do heaven's work well
I pray the devil comes and takes me
To stand in the fiery furnaces of hell