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.

--- Instrumental ---

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...