Small Town On The River

Intro: C/G - F/C(open 1st string)

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They used to come to town from the 
Naval base
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Looking for a stiff drink and a 
pretty face
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Hang around the whore houses all 
night long
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Well some were drifters and some 
were bums
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Some just waited for the war to come
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Out behind the factory with a 
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bottle and a factory girl
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In that small town on the river, 
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just a small town on the river

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Well that December war broke out, 
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many a woman lost her man
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Some wrote from overseas, some 
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didn’t and their women didn’t 
understand
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And the whores left for the harbor 
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towns where the business was still 
good
Continues after the ad
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And the factory girls put in 
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double shifts, worked as much time 
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as they could

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In that small town on the river, 
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just a small town on the river

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Well some men came home aces, some 
were carried home
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All of them were heroes, no man was 
left alone
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Some took jobs, some went to 
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school, some found they’d fathered 
kids
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Some men tried, but could not 
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forget, some wound up on the skids
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In that small town on the river, 
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just a small town on the river


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Well forty years later the town 
remains the same
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One mill burnt down, another one was
 built
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The paychecks now come from a 
different name
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And at the Eagles and the Legion 
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halls, no one seems to age
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With the same jokes told and the 
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TV on; the paper open to the 
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sports page
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In that small town on the river, 
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just a small town on the river

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And I was talking with the 
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bartender last night at the PAC
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A Navy man from World War II, sharp
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 dresser though he don’t have to be
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And over a double bourbon, he said 
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“I’ll tell ya man to man”
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“Well this town died forty years 
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ago, son; get out while you can”
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It’s just a small town on the 
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river, we’re nothing but a small 
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town on the river
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We’re nothing but a small town on 
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the river