SMALL TOWN FACTORY (single)
by Joe Normal
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Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
My father was an amazing tenor singer who gave up his dream of singing on the radio for the steady pay the factory offered. He chose to sacrifice his dream to support his family. Sadly he got laid off in his mid-50s. As an unskilled worker he never recovered from that.
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I grew up fearing the factory. It became a symbol of unsung dreams. At the age of 13 I found that playing music and someday joining a rock band was probably the only ticket I had out of such a future.
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In the mid 80's I worked a delivery job taking machine parts to many of the factories all over industrial New Jersey. Some were incredibly dismal places, sweat-filled grease shops, noisy, clanking, loud bustling buildings from a bygone century. Ghost passages, haunting histories of unsung men and on-the-job injuries.
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Me with my crazy bleached hair and tight black jeans, I couldn't wait each time to make my delivery and get the fuck outta there. I had all the incentive I needed to run hard and fast, to stay hungry for stardom and never come back.
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Ironically, my town's most iconic factory is the Singer Factory, and though I would fear it's looming presence the most, it is exactly what I would become... a singer.
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Looking back I am grateful for the history and provision our hometown factories blessed us with. It was bittersweet to see them closing down and falling into disrepair as I entered my adult years. I'm sure the spirits that inhabited these spaces never moved on... perhaps not too much unlike myself.
God Bless the factory workers... God Bless my dad.
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"Small Town Factory" is the first single from the upcoming album "Public Works" by Joe Normal. Straight outta the factories of New Jersey comes a Blue-Collar superhero weaving together Americana, Glam and Folk Rock sounds with his stylish brand of storytelling. This is GLAMERICANA. ... morePurchasable with gift card$1 USD or more
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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Just A Normal Day In Normaltown, (back catalog) TAKE ME BACK, (back catalog) AIN'T THIS A WONDERFUL LIFE, (back catalog) LIVING WITH ME (original demo 1999), a rock n roll ghost, (back catalog) RITA, (back catalog) SUCH STUPID PEOPLE, (back catalog) SAVE HER FOR ME, and 33 more.
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1. |
Small Town Factory
03:27
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There’s a small town factory beside
A rusty water tower that I once climbed,
No one ever goes skipping into that place,
No one ever walks out with a smile on his face.
At our small town factory, behind are
Abandoned railroad tracks, all overgrown with vines,
No more trains passing through, or stopping at this place,
No more kids throwing rocks, ending up in a chase.
Small town fact’ry, raised our family.
Small town fact’ry, fading fast from history.
At our small town factory I applied
For my first real job, on the production line,
No more late night gigs across the Hudson Bay,
No more Rock ‘n Roll life, no more running away.
And at this small town factory I try
To do my best work, and though I do it with pride,
Still there’s a song in my head, and a verse in my heart,
And these tired working hands just dream of playing guitar.
Small town fact’ry, what’s my destiny?
Small town factory, don’t you dare take away my dreams…
Like my daddy who gave you his best years,
When he should’ve been singing in all our best theatres
Like Mario Lanza, or Enrico Caruso.
Oh, and me, I've got so much to give,
And I just don’t wanna end up like my daddy did,
Wasting away in this place full of fear,
Another unsung working class balladeer.
Still every small town factory presides,
With a shadow over the taverns where its good men have cried,
Some have come to claim the life their work has taken away,
Some have come to numb the sorrow of their last dying day.
Near our small town factory resides,
A little cemetery filled with forgotten lives,
Of every soldier and worker that this town gave,
In an earlier time, sent to an early grave.
Small town fact’ry,
One hundred fifty years of sweat, and toil, and memories.
Small town factory,
You’re the heartbeat and soul of every home in our community.
Fading small town factory, don’t you ever leave.
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about
"Small Town Factory" is the first single from the upcoming album "Public Works" by Joe Normal. Straight outta the factories of New Jersey comes a Blue-Collar superhero weaving together Americana, Glam and Folk Rock sounds with his stylish brand of storytelling. This is GLAMERICANA.
credits
released March 8, 2023
Written, performed, produced by Joe Normal
Recorded at:
Rockin' Rollers Studio
Montecito Music & Media
Engineered and Mixed with Billy Burke
Written, performed, produced by Joe Normal
Recorded at:
Rockin' Rollers Studio
Montecito Music & Media
Engineered and Mixed with Billy Burke
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all rights reserved
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about
Joe Normal Los Angeles, California
VIDEO: youtu.be/h9Lrwxh2lxc
Joe Normal® is a founding member of 80's Sunset Strip glam-
pop legends The Zeros. He's a co-writer on Sammy Hagar’s “Not 4 Sale” LP, and even recorded with punk icon Stiv Bators.
Compared to Cleaners From Venus, Paul Westerberg, and Jesse Malin, Joe Normal is an "Authentic underground storyteller with a Glam Rock heart." -Aquarian (NJ)
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