Again, thanks for all the commentary. You've given me a lot to consider, and it's all much appreciated.

Fdemetrio, I thought I'd heard just about every song Springsteen ever recorded, but "Freehold" was new to me. I looked it up, saw that he never recorded it in a studio and that a live version has never been officially released. I still haven't listened to it--I'll get to that later this evening--but the lyrics, as you implied, are sharp and evocative. In your note that preceded the lyrics, I was struck by your assertion that "songs like this work best when there is a sense of pride." I suppose that's true. And I do think my song would've likely been better had I demonstrated a bit more feeling for the town in question, which, by the way, is Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the one-time lumber capital of the world and the home of Little League Baseball. When I wrote the song, I wasn't really looking to paint any sort of picture of Williamsport. I was more entwined in a general feeling that night. It was getting late, and I was already feeling a touch lonesome and maybe even a little melancholy. I walked out behind my house, and as I stood in the yard drinking a beer I could hear 18-wheelers trucking along the beltway, about a mile distant. And I started thinking about the people driving those trucks and how they were just speeding right on past this little town, probably without giving it a passing thought. That led me to the line in the song about the world rolling by like there's nothing here to see. Aside from the sound of the distant trucks going by, it was quiet outside that night, as it usually is after 9 p.m. or so around here. There's just not a lot going on, and in the mood I was in that night, I came in and wrote the opening line of the song, which is, "There's not much fun in this town unless you're drunk or high" (which struck me at the time as more or less true). And from there I just let my mood and those lines lead me through the song. None of this explanation makes the song any better, I know, but I am nonetheless trying to convey that I was only attempting to describe how I was feeling on a particular evening. I realize I did the town itself no great service, but, again, that wasn't my intent. There is much about this town that I admire, and I could've more thoughtfully said so.

Anyhow, thanks again to everyone who bothered to listen to the song and offer their thoughts about it. That was most kind and, as I said, much appreciated.