Maybe it's time to update my working draft of Housing and Other Neighborhood Organizing Songs, samples of which were published in BROADSIDE, #165, back in 1985. What I'm looking for are songs describing the trials and tribulations, as well as small victories, of those seeking shelter in a market society. Here's an example from the gentrification front in Cincinatti during the late 1970s; this song describes the strong attachment people have for their neighborhoods, the planners and speculators who threaten them, and their determination to fight back.

YOU CAN'T JUST TAKE OUR HOMES AWAY
(Written by Tony Heriza © 1979 Further adapted by Charles Ipcar in 1981)
Tune: "Mountain Song" © by Holly Near
Recorded on Folkways Records: We Won't Move FS 5287

I have lived in this city,
As my mother did before me,
And you can't just take my home away,
Without me fighting,
No, you can't just take my home away!

Well, you make your city plans,
Try your damnedest to ignore us,
But you can't just take our homes away,
Without us fighting,
No, you can't just take our homes away!

These old buildings raised our children,
And 'tho it's true they need repairing,
You can't just take our homes away…(as above)

We have lived in this city,
Through hard times we've helped each other,
And you can't just take our homes away…

You drive a big Mercedes car,
You have a fancy education,
But you can't just take our homes away…

And if you think you can displace us,
Then you haven't seen our faces,
No, you can't just take our homes away…

We have lived in this city,
Ties are deep and they are many,
And you can't just take our homes away,
Without us fighting,
No you can't just take our homes away,
Not with us watching,
No, you can't just take our homes away!

New and old contributions would be appreciated. I'll be happy to comment on any housing song mysteries, having access to some 300 songs from all over, with some going back to Elizabethan times.