Billy Joel - Allentown: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Allentown" on your guitar with our detailed chord guide and lyrics. This page provides everything you need to perform this song on the guitar, including lyrics integrated with chords, chord diagrams, and a key transposer to match your vocal range.

Learn Allentown Guitar Chords and Lyrics by Billy Joel

This section will guide you through each part of the song, providing the guitar chords placed directly above the lyrics for easy playing. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced player, these elements will help you perform "Allentown" smoothly on your guitar.

For easier playing, use our Simplify Chords feature to remove difficult chords like barre.

A          Em             A     D
Well we're living here in Allentown
             Am              D         G
And they're closing all the factories down
        Em                A       Bm
Out in Bethlehem they're killing time
 A           Em
Filling out forms
  D          A
Standing in line.

          Em                 A            D
Well our fathers fought the Second World War
             Am              D       G
Spent their weekends on the Jersey Shore
        Em             A Bm A
Met our mothers at the USO
A             Em
Asked them to dance
 D                 A A7
Danced with them slow

          Em             A    D
And we're living here in Allentown.
         F                G      C
But the restlessness was handed down
          Am           D       Em Bm C D G
And it's getting very hard to stay

Well, we're waiting here in Allentown
For the Pennsylvania we never found
For the promises our teachers gave
If we worked hard, if we behaved

So the graduations hang on the wall
But they never really helped us at all
No they never taught us what was real
Iron and coke, chromium steel

Chorus:
And we're waiting here in Allentown
But they've taken all the coal from the ground
And the union people crawled away

F                   G           F
Every child had a pretty good shot
           G                F            A#
To get at least as far as their old man got.
F                             G           F
If something happened on the way to that place
                            G          F G
They threw an American flag in our face,

Chorus:
Well I'm living here in Allentown
And it's hard to keep a good man down
But I won't be getting up today

And it’s getting very hard to stay
And we’re living here in Allentown


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A

Guitar chord A

A7

Guitar chord A7

A#

Guitar chord A#

Am

Guitar chord Am

Bm

Guitar chord Bm

C

Guitar chord C

D

Guitar chord D

Em

Guitar chord Em

F

Guitar chord F

G

Guitar chord G

Here you can see detailed diagrams for each guitar chord used in the song. Utilize our key transposer to adjust the chords to a key that better fits your singing range. Simply select the desired key, and the chords throughout this page will update automatically, ensuring you can play and sing comfortably.

If you are also interested in learning how to play "Allentown" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Allentown" by Billy Joel.

Billy Joel Song List