Bill Morrissey Small Town On The River Lyrics

[Verse 1]
They used to come to town from the naval base
Looking for a stiff drink and a pretty face
Hang around the whorehouses
All night long
Well, some were drifters and some were bums
Some just waited for the war to come
Out behind the factory
With a bottle and a factory girl

[Chorus]
In that small town on the river
Just a small town on the river
[Verse 2]
Well, that December war broke out
Many a woman lost her man
Some wrote from overseas, some didn't
And their women didn't understand
And the whores left for the harbor towns
Where the business was still good
And the factory girls put in double shifts
Worked as much time as they could

[Chorus]
In that small town on the river
Just a small town on the river

[Verse 3]
Well, some men came home aces
And some were carried home
All of them were heroes
No man was left alone
Some took jobs, some went to school
Some found they'd fathered kids
Well, most men tried but could not forget And some wound up on the skids

[Chorus]
In that small town on the river
Just a small town on the river
[Verse 4]
Well, forty years later
The town remains the same
One mill burnt down, another one was built
The paychecks now come from a different name
And at the Eagles and the Legion Halls
No one seems to age
With the same jokes told and the TV on
The paper open to the sports page

[Chorus]
In that small town on the river
Just a small town on the river

[Verse 5]
And I was talking with the bartender
Last night at the P.A.C. 
A navy man from World War Two
Sharp dresser, though he don't have to be
And over a double bourbon
He said, "I'll tell you man to man
Well, this town died forty years ago, son
Get out while you can"

[Chorus]
It's just a small town on the river
Well, nothing but a small town on the river
Oh, nothing but a small town on the river