Billy Joel - Allentown: Guitar Chords
Learn to play "Allentown" on your guitar with our chord guide. 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.
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 | TransposeReset Font SizeReset Guitar Chord DiagramsA  A7  A#  Am  Bm  C  D  Em  F  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.