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She said, "I watch him walk down Main Street A sweet one man parade.
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He'd tip his hat and just like that another score he'd made
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I'd watch the girls all watch him; moths drawn to the flame.
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The money showed, the laughter flowed from the way he played the game.
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He played the game.
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"Some said he was a rambler, some said he was a rake .
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Some said he was a gambler, some said he was a fake.
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But I knew him like no one else, a gentleman was he.
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His days belonged to himself, his nights belonged to me.
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Belonged to me.
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"And they're talkin' in the town square,
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In the taverns and the shops
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I hear them talkin' everywhere.
|
Their talkin' never stops.
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But all their words of wisdom won't make you go away.
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The day they closed the factory down they had nothing,
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Nothing left to say.
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She said, "I take care of my momma now, since my father died.
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I'm raising baby brother, too, the way my father tried.
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His thirty years in the factory ended in that furnace blast.
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But they settled up for ten bucks a week and the bitterness is past,
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It did not last.
|
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"So they're moving somewhere else now
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With their cloths and fabric press. They found themselves another town where they'll make shirts for less.
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And that is why he said last night he won't watch the old town die.
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But I would not take what he tried to leave, when he told me 'Good bye'
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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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-----------------
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The Day They Closed the Factory Down
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Harry Chapin |