Dave Alvin - Gary, Indiana 1959 lyrics

I'm old, weak and grey and I'm running out of time Yeah, but you should have seen me, brother, when I was young and in my prime Back in Gary, Indiana in 1959 I was a steel working man with 2 kids and loving wife And the Union was strong, smokestacks burning day and night Back in Gary, Indiana in 1959 But then the accountants and lawyers and bosses at U.S. Steel Sent down the word that we had to take their rotten deal But from Birmingham to Pueblo, Oakland to Allentown The workers got together and we shut the Big Boys down, The President and Supreme Court tried to force us off the line Back in Gary, Indiana in 1959 Now the years have disappeared in the blink of an eye And I feel like a stranger in world that isn't mine My dear wife died, my kids all moved away Cause there's nothing round here to make them want to stay Cause the factories are in ruins, decent jobs are hard to find And you can't get ahead no matter how hard you try Cause the Big Boys make the rules, tough luck for everyone else And out on the streets, brother, it's every man for himself But I still remember when we marched side by side Back in Gary, Indiana in 1959 Don't bury my body, brother, when it's my time to die Just throw me in that smelter and let my ashes fly Back home to Gary, Indiana in 1959