Songtext Rolling mills of middletown Tom T. Hall

Rolling mills of middletown

The rolling mills of Middletown roll on roll on roll on

I knew him well old friend of mine from down Kentucky way

We had some high good times my friend back in our younger days

I knew he shouldn't marry any woman quite that wild

Then later on I learned that she had been expectin' a child

He got his job at making steel and bought himself a home

Where the rolling mills of Middletown roll on roll on roll on

Well there's money in those steel mills boys and he made quite a bit

He worked all night she shopped all day bought everything that fit

A helper on the BOF three thousand degrees at a round

His wife was just about that hot in the bars in old Middletown

Of course he was the last to know oh but listen to my song

While the rolling mills of Middletown roll on roll on roll on

[ guitar ]

One night the foreman on his turn said cool down No 2

And he told my friend to go on home as soon as he was through

He stopped into a little bar to have a good cold beer

His woman and some dayturn guy were dancing closely there

Oh I knew him well and in his mind there must have been a storm

While the rolling mills of Middletown roll on roll on roll on

They say he never spoke a word he just turned and walked away

And no one knows exactly what took place that fateful day

Some say they saw him near the tracks at furnace No 1

With heat so hot the hubs of hell would seem just barely warm

Well they never saw my friend again did he do something wrong

While the rolling mills of Middletown Ohio roll on roll on roll on