I agree with the assessments here about the meaning of the song, but I thought I'd add a bit of "inside information." The Table Talk bakery which she described operated for years in Worcester, Massachusetts (I gre up tehre and worked there.) Much of its work force was immigrant, and the majority, interestingly, Greek. Worcester also has a substantial Italian population, and the Italian neighborhood borders on where the bakery is located. I'd like to know more of how Patty came to write this song, because I'm almost positive it has to be based on a true story to some extent: I have no doubt that she knew someone, or was told by someone, of a "lost love" story such as "stevesomething" describes above. The story of "the Greek and his Italian girl" before the war (I'm guessing he died in WW2) had to be one she heard from friends or family.
I agree with the assessments here about the meaning of the song, but I thought I'd add a bit of "inside information." The Table Talk bakery which she described operated for years in Worcester, Massachusetts (I gre up tehre and worked there.) Much of its work force was immigrant, and the majority, interestingly, Greek. Worcester also has a substantial Italian population, and the Italian neighborhood borders on where the bakery is located. I'd like to know more of how Patty came to write this song, because I'm almost positive it has to be based on a true story to some extent: I have no doubt that she knew someone, or was told by someone, of a "lost love" story such as "stevesomething" describes above. The story of "the Greek and his Italian girl" before the war (I'm guessing he died in WW2) had to be one she heard from friends or family.
@tquinn554 - How do you know it was the Table Talk bakery in Worcester, please?
@tquinn554 - How do you know it was the Table Talk bakery in Worcester, please?