There Used To Be a Town Around Here

There Used To Be a Town Around Here
by Tom Flannery copyright 2008

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Burned out hulks and biker bars
borrowed money and stolen cars
whores and pimps and the DEA
all running from the light of day
postcards and what used to be
bowler hats and finery
vaudeville stops and bootleg beer
you could always find it here

While the men chipped away under the ground
the groaning pillars came falling down
out with the old in with the new
ground opened up and the deal fell through
now the brick peels from the old hotel
each piece with a story to tell
a chunk drilled ol Murphy the other day
but he just shook it off and walked away

There used to be a town 'round here....I swear
There used to be a town 'round here....I swear
between the liquor store and all that debris
that's where my daddy's house used to be

Broken windows and 5 foot punks
strip bars and their nightly drunks
heading home to mother in the trailer park
to play with themselves in the dark
foreclosures and for sale signs
garage sales and 5 and dimes
factory whistles and picket signs
middle men in the soup lines

We got enough fast food here to kill you slow
enough strip malls where you can go
and lay your plastic down and say
I gotta another bunch of these on the way
absentee landlords and bus depots
where the drugs come in under everyone's nose
gangs and graffiti and a clientele
filled with old school n'er do wells

There used to be a town 'round here....I swear
There used to be a town 'round here....I swear
out where they dump them cars
there used to little league big ball yard
There used to be a town 'round here....I swear
There used to be a town 'round here....I swear
between the liquor store and all that debris
that's where my daddy's house used to be

Some grow up hard but still do grow
and some fall back on what they know
sins of the father if he stuck around
or visiting mom thrown in the ground
watching the lights from high above
it's hard to find the one you love
hope springs eternal but not around here
let's pack our bags and disappear

There used to be a town 'round here....I swear
There used to be a town 'round here....I swear
out by the no trespassing sign
what I learned was left behind

There used to be a town 'round here....I swear
There used to be a town 'round here....I swear
between the liquor store and all that debris
that's where my old man's house used to be