This song, released in 1995 on the album The Ghost of Tom Joad, is about the city of Youngstown (hence the name...) that had an economy largely based on the steel industry. The steel industry was important, particularly during times of war, as said "These mills they built the tanks and bombs, That won this country's wars,"
but when economic times worsened, towns based on the steel industry were hard hit. Because of the hard times, steel mills were closed, causing the collapse of the economy in towns such a Youngstown who relied solely on the steel mills for employment and income. As a result of the closings over 50,000 people lost their jobs. The song offers a current perspective on the events in the 70's and before. The song is also written kind of like a story. Jenny, who I first thought was a person is really the name for one of the steel mills. I like the song and I think Springsteen does a good job of singing the song and playing the guitar in a way that fits well with the content of the song. (Glory Days and Born In The USA are good too.) This song allows us to learn about the conditions of the working class as well as the rise of labor unions and the protection of workers that led to higher wages and better conditions.
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