In the song Allentown by Billy Joel, Joel tells about how people in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania(there are actually no steel mills in Allentown, and more words rhyme with Allentown then with Bethlehem) worked in steel mills and how the area’s economy depended on the steel business. These workers were eventually left helpless in 1970 when the Bethlehem Steel Corporation was forced to close down its factories and lay off most of its workers. This is told about in the third to fifth lines, which say,
"Out in Bethlehem they're killing time
Filling out forms
Standing in line"
These lyrics tell about how people tried to get unemployment compensation, which was basically a service which allowed people who had recently been laid off to receive funds from
