Lynn, Lynn, City of Sin
Nearly one year ago, I moved to the city of Lynn, Massachusetts. Lynn is a former manufacturing center whose reputation for vice and crime have been immortalized with a taunting rhyme: Lynn, Lynn, city of sin/You never come out the way you came in/You ask for water, but they give you gin/The girls say no, yet they always give in…
The city of Lynn certainly has its rough edges, but what I’ve found is in fact very desirable: a diverse working-class community with loads of parks and green space, proximity to a fantastic beach, a variety of local restaurants, and a recently built community path for walking and biking. It seems to me that, in modern times, Lynn’s reputation seems rather exaggerated.
Sometime after moving in, I watched a documentary on the history of Pop-Punk music. One of the tropes of this genre are songs about the desire to escape one’s hometown, which is considered boring, conformist, and stifling to one’s sense of self. Needless to say, this subject is extremely popular with both pop-punk band members, and their target audience: white middle-class suburban teenagers.
It’s ironic-those listeners, including those among them who feel the least understood by the world around them, probably have the greatest socioeconomic advantage in terms of mobility than most other demographics of people in this country. But seeing as the suburbs can be a world apart, you really only know what you know…
Regardless, this trope got me thinking about the city I just moved to, and how the dynamics of life here would be diametrically opposed to that for any small town pop-punk band or their fans. It compelled me to write a pop-punk song that turns this trope on its head, defending what’s great about this place while refusing to hide from the bad.
While I have yet to write the compositions that will make this a listenable song, I can still present you with the completed lyrics. If you know or enjoy pop-punk music, maybe you can hear a song in your head…
“Lynn, Lynn, City of Sin”
Lynn, Lynn, City of Sin,
there’s burn-outs, rats, and trash out the bin,
you’ll never come out the way you went in,
but to me it feels right at home…
No silent place here in Lynn,
where fireworks burst with an earsplitting din,
and bikes are racing through streets yet again,
but still you really got to laugh…
Cuz this ain’t some safe white suburb.
No sleepy bedroom town.
And if you try to put Lynn in a box,
she’s gonna put you in the ground…
Cuz this ain’t a place for dying,
or hiding from the view.
So step outside like you belong,
meet the people just like you.
Lynn, Lynn, how can you win,
You’re always the outsider never let in.
They speak of you still with a wink and a grin.
But how long can this charade last…
Poor mis-understood Lynn,
dismissed and derided again and again.
If only those fools really knew that within
is a beauty with a shining heart…
Cuz I see a hundred nations,
with their dreams all in their grasp.
And those who live through trying days
Are gonna be there at the last…
For this ain’t a place for dying,
or hiding from the view,
so step outside ‘cuz you belong
with the people just like you.
Lynn, Lynn, City of Sin,
farewell to the past, let the future begin,
there’ll be no more taking these shots to the chin,
today you stand on your own…
No shame in what makes Lynn Lynn,
regardless of all of the scoffing and spin,
I’m calling on you one and all to come in,
and see the town that’s all one home…
Cuz this ain’t some safe white suburb.
No sleepy bedroom town.
And if you try to put Lynn in a Box,
she’s gonna put you in the ground…
Cuz this ain’t a place for dying,
Nor hiding from the view.
So step outside if you belong
With the people just like you…
And we’ll make it on our own terms,
Cuz your timelines just ain’t right.
And while you follow paths laid out for you,
We’re too busy living life…
And this ain’t a place for running,
our stand is long past due.
So step outside ‘cuz you belong
with the people just like you.
