On the Sidewalk
Channel: David Rovics
Date: 2018-01-13

Eighty homeless people died on the streets of Portland, Oregon in 2016.  Average age of death:  49.

Lyrics:

In the outdoor seating areas of all the trendy new cafes
You can see the yuppies drinking their cortados and lattes
And you can hear them as they're chatting and laughing out so loud
Must feel good to be in the In Crowd
Must feel good to have such idle conversation
About the latest 1980's Spotify compilation
Yeah I got myself a phone but the battery is spent
'Cause there isn't any outlet to plug into in the tent on the sidewalk

Listen to them talking – the lawyers and ITs
Sometimes I really wonder if I'm a member of their species
But I grew up in this city and now I can't afford to live here 
Can't afford to spend ten dollars on a pint of beer
Can't afford to lie down on a bench and take a nap 
I'm lucky if they let me in to use the john and take a crap
Don't write me a letter, there's nowhere to get it sent
'Cause you don't have an address when you're living in a tent...

Often when I'm downtown selling papers I see
Protesters protesting the powers-that-be
Maybe I should join them but I don't think I will
Because whoever runs the Congress or Capitol Hill
The only thing that changes, whoever's hands are in the larder
Everything gets more expensive and life keeps getting harder
The one and only thing that matters is I can't afford the rent
The sky is pissing freezing rain, the walls are leaking in this tent...

As I lay here on the plastic, shivering away
I'm just hoping that I'll make it to the break of day
Not just be a statistic who died face down in the mud
Beaten by some frat boys, covered up in blood
Sometimes I dream I have a future – an end to this long night 
Sometimes I dream that someday people will have rights 
But then I wake up and I wonder what the hell that meant
'Cause I'm sure there is no future here inside this tent...

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