Here's one of my old collaboration songs, co-authored with Maxine Parshall, when I was doing tenant organizing in East Lansing, Michigan in the 1970's. It's actually in the DT and it's one of the reasons I was attracted to this forum. I never did learn how it got here:

Words by Charles Ipcar and Maxine Parshall, © 1972
Tune: inspired by "Hobo's Lullaby" by Goebel Reeves

Landlord's Lullaby

Close your eyes, my weary tenants,
As you sign your rent contract;
Kiss goodbye your rent deposit,
For you'll never get it back.

Chorus:

Go to sleep, my little tenants,
Though the gas is leaking fast;
Lay your head upon the pillow,
This night's sleep may be your last.

Though the roof is rather leaky,
And paper's peeling off the wall,
And there's plaster on your bedspread,
Be thankful there's a wall at all. (CHO)

I know inspectors cause you trouble,
They cause trouble everywhere,
But when you die and go to heaven,
You'll find no inspectors there. (CHO)

Though the furnace is erratic,
And the wiring seems decayed,
Come the morn you'll be evicted,
As your home is blown away! (CHO)

Notes:

This macabre song, co-authored by myself and Maxine Parshall in 1972, was provoked by the near death by leaking gas of tenants in an old rooming house in the university town of East Lansing, Michigan. Little did we know at the time that the furnace in our own building would break down just a few months later. Such "gallows humor" has a particular fascination for anyone who has worked with housing issues for an extended period of time. This song was always a favorite at the end of our volunteer training sessions at the Tenants Resource Center.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble