This Old Town Lyrics - Other Voices, Other Rooms - Nanci Griffith

This old town should've burned down in 1929 

That's when we stood in line 

Waiting for our soup 

Swallowing our pride 

This old town should've burned down in 1931 

When the rain refused to come 

Air filled up our bellies, dust filled up our lungs 

And we thought our time had come 

This old town was built by hand 

In the dust bowl of the motherland 

There must be rock beneath this sand 

Oh' I'll be damned, this town still stands 

This old town should've burned down in 1944 

When the last men went to war 

They came back different 

If they came back at all 

This old town should've burned down in 1956 

That's when the twister hit 

And all our hopes were buried 

Beneath the boards and bricks 

And we almost called it quits 

This old town was built by hand 

In the dust bowl of the motherland 

There must be rock beneath this sand 

Oh' I'll be damned, this town still stands 

Somewhere in the distance 

The city lights do shine 

The sidewalks gleam with neon dreams 

That call from time to time 

When my children's children 

Ask me why didn't I go 

They say the heart of any town 

Is the people that you've known 

They'll always call you home 

This old town was built by hand 

In the dust bowl of the motherland 

There must be rock beneath this sand 

Oh I'll be damned, this town still stands