Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2017 6:10:30 GMT -5
Came up with a new one. This is kind of a first draft of "The Eviction Notice Blues," and the song is still finding itself tempo and attitude-wise. I wrote the song after reading a review of "Evicted," a new book by sociologist Matthew Desmond. It is about the epidemic of evictions, particularly in the cities -- in this case, he studied eight people in Milwaukee. While people have always gotten evicted, the economy has quickened the pace, plus, landlords and others have discovered there's money to be made off evictions. And people can be evicted through no fault of their own. Desmond writes of a woman who was evicted because she called 911 after her boyfriend beat her up. Not only was she a victim of domestic abuse, but because she called the cops to report the crime, she became homeless.
I borrowed a couple of Desmond's people and used a few other details from the review.
Still trying to decide how the song needs to be performed. And no doubt there will be more rewriting. I'm not sure I give these characters enough humanity, and that's something I want to do.
Here are the lyrics:
The Eviction Notice Blues
© 2017 by David Hanners
Arleen's got a job but she'll never earn enough
Dwayne is unemployed and sometimes drinks too much
Arleen called the cops one night when she tired of Dwayne's abuse
Next day the landlord handed her the eviction notice blues
There's a plague in the cities, you know what I'm talking about
Poor black men get locked up, poor black women get locked out
Trickle down never made it past Fifth Avenue
Here, the sheriff's handing out eviction notice blues
Paint's peeling, there's no heat, plumbing is Third World
Shining City on the Hill looks a little blurred
Streets are a time bomb we never will defuse
Landlords set the timer on the eviction notice blues
Streets of sagging duplexes, corner stores, faded signs
'Though Heroin Susie's clean for weeks she still pays for her crime
When you're always starting over you're always gonna lose
Packs all she owns in Hefty bags with the eviction notice blues
This trailer park was something back in 1964
Now driveways filled with rusted cars of the young, the white, the poor
They fear they'll wind up living where the black folks do
But they can't outrun the landlord with the eviction notice blues
They voted for a conman who gave 'em enemies to boo
He's just another landlord handing out eviction notice blues
I borrowed a couple of Desmond's people and used a few other details from the review.
Still trying to decide how the song needs to be performed. And no doubt there will be more rewriting. I'm not sure I give these characters enough humanity, and that's something I want to do.
Here are the lyrics:
The Eviction Notice Blues
© 2017 by David Hanners
Arleen's got a job but she'll never earn enough
Dwayne is unemployed and sometimes drinks too much
Arleen called the cops one night when she tired of Dwayne's abuse
Next day the landlord handed her the eviction notice blues
There's a plague in the cities, you know what I'm talking about
Poor black men get locked up, poor black women get locked out
Trickle down never made it past Fifth Avenue
Here, the sheriff's handing out eviction notice blues
Paint's peeling, there's no heat, plumbing is Third World
Shining City on the Hill looks a little blurred
Streets are a time bomb we never will defuse
Landlords set the timer on the eviction notice blues
Streets of sagging duplexes, corner stores, faded signs
'Though Heroin Susie's clean for weeks she still pays for her crime
When you're always starting over you're always gonna lose
Packs all she owns in Hefty bags with the eviction notice blues
This trailer park was something back in 1964
Now driveways filled with rusted cars of the young, the white, the poor
They fear they'll wind up living where the black folks do
But they can't outrun the landlord with the eviction notice blues
They voted for a conman who gave 'em enemies to boo
He's just another landlord handing out eviction notice blues