Lyrics The Day They Closed the Factory Down - Harry Chapin

The Day They Closed the Factory Down

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
(BACK-UP: Talkin', Talkin', Talkin')
«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'
Oh, 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
Oh, 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."