Original Song: "Saddest City in the USA"

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A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of playing on msp-waves radio along with lots of other fine musicians here on steemit, including @benleemusic. I performed this song about my hometown in Springfield, Ohio, which according to the Gallup poll, was named the "Unhappiest City" in America in 2011. Springfield used to have lots of jobs and people early in the 20th century, but the industry changed, jobs went away, people left, and many of the ones who stayed have really struggled.

I started noticing an old fellow walking along on my street pushing an empty wheelchair. I would see him on other streets nearby on the east side of town as well, and sometimes he'd be downtown, and then over on the west side. Then in the winter I'd see the tracks of the wheelchair and his footsteps in the snow, and this really made an impression, so I wrote this song.

Earlier this year I shared a live video of this song, but this is the first time on @DSound. Thanks again to everyone for your support!

Lyrics:

There's a man walking up and down my street
Pushing a wheelchair, dragging his feet
And the wheelchair's empty and he's not okay
It's the saddest city in the USA

This ain't speculation, it's a fact
90,000 people nearly cut in half
Every second job taken away
From the saddest city in the USA

We've got a shopping mall where no one shops
We've got a downtown where no one walks
We've got old timers who talk of the day
Before the saddest city in the USA

And on the edge of town we've got a lake
And swimming there is another risk you take
'cause the water's poison is what the papers say
In the saddest city in the USA

But there's a beauty in sadness, a beauty in grit
A beauty in something that just won't quit
A beauty in people who are bound to stay
In the saddest city in the USA

And that man still walks up and down my street
Pushing a wheelchair, dragging his feet
The wheelchair's empty, just another day
In the saddest city in the USA

The Photo Above is Springfield, and here is the source

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