My City Was Gone

About My City Was Gone

"My City Was Gone" is a song by the rock group The Pretenders. The song originally appeared in October 1982 as the B-side to the single release of "Back on the Chain Gang"; the single was the first release for the band following the death of founding bandmember James Honeyman-Scott. The song was included on the album Learning to Crawl released in early 1984, and it became a radio favorite in the United States. It is sometimes referred to as "The Ohio Song" for its constant reference to the state, though it is not part of the song's title. The song's final title was chosen because there had already been a song called "Ohio" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. The song was written by Pretenders leader Chrissie Hynde, and reflected her growing interest in environmental and social concerns; the lyrics take the form of an autobiographical lament, with the singer returning to her childhood home of Ohio and discovering that rampant development and pollution had destroyed the "pretty countryside" of her youth. The song makes a number of specific references to places in and around Akron, Ohio including South Howard Street (line 5), the historic center of Akron which was leveled to make way for an urban plaza with three skyscrapers and two parking decks (line 8). more »

Year:

2009

4:27

341 Views

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I went back to Ohio
But my city was gone
There was no train station
There was no downtown

Southtown, it disappeared
All my favorite places
My city had been pulled down
Reduced to parking spaces
Ay, oh, where did you go, Ohio?

I went back to Ohio
But my family was gone
I stood on the back porch
There was nobody home

I was stunned and amazed
My childhood memories
Saw this world past
Like the wind through the trees
Ay, oh, where did you go, Ohio?

I went back to Ohio
But my pretty countryside
It had been paved down the middle
By a government that had no pride

The farms of Ohio
Had been replaced by shopping malls
And Muzak filled the air
From Seneca to Cuyahoga Falls
Ay, oh, where did you go, Ohio?

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Pretenders

The Pretenders are an English-American rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band comprised initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Martin Chambers (drums, backing vocals, percussion). The band has experienced drug-related deaths of the members, and numerous subsequent personnel changes have taken place over the years, with Hynde and Chambers as the remaining original members. more »

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