Song 12 "Youngstown"

by Bruce Springsteen




When it was written.
1995

What it is about.
It is about Youngstown, Ohio. Youngstown was a center of steel production, and many people like the narrator worked as hard as they could (making other people rich) in the factory. All Youngstown was known for was steel... a huge amount of the people living their made their living in the steel business. When the factories shut down, they all lost their jobs.

How the story is told.
Springsteen is singing as though he went through these experiences which, to me, makes it more interesting. I did find that it is a common misconcepton that the "Jenny" in the song is a girl. In reality it was some sort of Furnace in Youngstown. I sort of think that he probably meant for there to be some confusion (I mean, how could there not be) but I wonder why.

My thoughts.
I think this was a good song, although it really helps to look some facts up, it makes a lot more sense.

What we can learn.

Even a huge steel company's future isn't sure. People still had uncertainty about their livelihood. Much like the dust bowl, all of the sudden, peoples means of supporting themselves were snached away and were left in the midst of a mass of other people with no jobs either.