https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/week-15-cicero-il/ Guitar Noise Discussion Board en-US Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:31:03 +0000 wpForo 60 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/week-15-cicero-il/#post-321187 Fri, 13 Feb 2009 08:01:52 +0000 LOL, just kidding, great job!]]> Sunday Songwriters Group JoeHempel https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/week-15-cicero-il/#post-321187 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/week-15-cicero-il/#post-321143 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:20:14 +0000
Nice work, Kathy.


A :-)]]> Sunday Songwriters Group Alan Green https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/week-15-cicero-il/#post-321143 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/week-15-cicero-il/#post-321139 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:45:38 +0000
I especially liked

"A few old ladies kneel and pray
I wonder what they're praying for."

Ernie]]> Sunday Songwriters Group stikman https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/week-15-cicero-il/#post-321139 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/week-15-cicero-il/#post-321132 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 12:07:41 +0000
Suggestion:
Since you already used 'town' once in this verse, consider changes to the last line
This used to be a working man's town
Before the factories all shut down
Now there ain't no work to be found
In this working mans town............just men hangin' around or skilled craftsmen/workers just hangin' around

Also, you have a pretty good rhyme pattern going for most of the song except this vers by using 'own' sound for all 4 lines.

I'll look forward to a listen :D

James]]> Sunday Songwriters Group jamestoffee https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/week-15-cicero-il/#post-321132 https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/week-15-cicero-il/#post-35005 Thu, 12 Feb 2009 04:19:46 +0000 Chorus:
This used to be a working man's town
Before the factories all shut down
Now there ain't no work to be found
In this working mans town

We used to build the stoves and bend the steel
At all the factories and steel mills
The work was hard and the sweat was real
But we made enough to pay the bills
Put a down payment on the bungalow
The credit union helped us out
A little room for the kids to grow
That's what it's all about

Chorus

Over at the Hawthorne Works
Twenty five thousand men a day
Machinists, welders, accounting clerks
In an industrial ballet
They helped to wire the world for sound
Before the government stepped in
They tried to spread the wealth around
The way they screwed us was a sin
Chorus

Three different churches within six blocks
Built by Italians, Czechs and Poles
They broke their backs and punched the clocks
And prayed for their immortal souls.
The kids all grew and moved away
They never come to church no more
A few old ladies kneel and pray
I wonder what they're praying for.
Chorus

Now it's all shopping malls and dollar stores
But who's got the cash to buy?
New waves of immigrants moving in
But all the dreams have passed them by.

Now all the manuals come in Chinese
We're in the unemployment line
They brought the unions to their knees
And the town is in decline
So we cash our checks at the corner bar
Commiserating with the boys
There ain't no work no matter who you are
In Cicero, Illinois.
Chorus

The town is infamous as the home of Al Capone, and also as one of the last truly segregated towns in the US; but when I was growing up there, everyone I knew had a dad that worked in a factory of some sort, and worked there for 40 years.
The Hawthorne Works was the home of Western Electric, which had it's swan song after they broke up the AT&T monopoly.
They had bowling and softball leagues, social clubs, and even a glee club! My dad worked there for 45 years before he retired. :wink:]]> Sunday Songwriters Group katreich https://guitarnoise.forum/sunday-songwriters-group/week-15-cicero-il/#post-35005