Cheap rent also inspires songs such as this one:

Words by Mark Charles and Sheila Ritter, © 1981
Tune: adapted from Cyril Tawney's "Gray Funnel Line"

The Old Landlord's Dump

I mind the rain coming in the roof;
It's cold and wet and that's the truth;
So late at night when I close my eyes
I feel it drip and I moan and sigh.

Chorus:

It's one more day in my old landlord's dump!

I mind the cockroaches in the sink;
I mind the living room painted pink;
I mind the water that comes out rust;
There's not a landlord you can trust. (CHO)

I mind the snow piling 'round the door;
When he'll shovel it, I'm not sure;
I mind the cold coming through the walls;
My heat bills rise as the temperature falls. (CHO)

Oh, Lord, if dreams were only real,
I'd find a place to buy for a steal;
Then I'd drive right by that landlord's place,
And stick my tongue out in his face. (CHO)

My friends and I will save our dimes;
We'll work and plan until that time;
Then we'll buy a house that we can share,
And all our lives we'll be happy there.

Final Chorus:

We'll live no more,
In that old landlord's dump!

Notes (from the draft Pity the Downtrodden Landlord housing songbook):

This song was put together by two long time friends, Sheila Ritter and Mark Charles, who between them have experienced a wide range of outrageous housing situations. They also worked hard for years to correct such conditions or provide alternatives to rental housing. Mark helped organize the Tenants Resource Center in East Lansing, Michigan, coordinated a city-wide rent control campaign, and together with Sheila pioneered a new cooperative house. Sheila is also a past director of the National Association of Student Cooperatives. The song itself is a parody of Cyril Tawney's "Gray Funnel Line" making it ideal for a cappella singing – just the song to try the next time you and some friends are hanging out in some musty mint green stairwell.

This song was first published in Broadside, Vol. 165, August, © 1985, p. 8.

Warm regards,
Charley Noble