In the interests of folk process, I'm adding this anti-urban renewal parody of this fine traditional song, which itself is a reworking of an earlier parody from the Sidney inner city neighborhood of Wooloomooloo, reworked to fit Portland, Maine's waterfront.

CONCRETE AND GLASS
(Charlie Ipcar - ©1985 Adapted from Denis Kevans' & Seamus Gill's Australian parody of "All for Me Grog" © 1973)

Oh, me name it is Fred,
In Portland born and bred,
And the Old Port used to be me home, boys
But 'tis caused me heart to grieve,
For I've had to take me leave,
Now across them western suburbs I must roam, boys!

Chorus:

In concrete and glass,
Portland's disappearing fast;
'Tis all gone for profit and for plunder;
Though we really want to stay,
They keep forcing us away,
Now across them western suburbs we must wander!

Now, where is me house,
Me old three-decker house?
'Tis all gone for profit and for plunder;
For the wreckers of the town Just come up and knocked it down;
Now across them western suburbs we must wander!

And where is me pub,
Me Irish Village Pub?
'Tis all gone for profit and for plunder;
Now when you walk in the door,
You'll find condo's on each floor,
And you'll have to fly to Dublin for your beer, boys!

And where is me port,
Me old working port?
'Tis all gone for profit and for plunder;
Now when you walk down the dock,
All ye'll hear is disco rock;
And ye'll have to dry yer nets in a laundromat, boys!

And where is me bank,
Me old Maine Savings Bank?
'Tis all gone for profit and for plunder;
Now who can ye trust
When all the banks go bust;
So across them western suburbs we must wander!

Now, before the city's wrecked
Them developers must be decked;
For 'tis plain to see they do not give a bugger,
And if them bandits have their way
We soon shall see the day
That we'll all be driving in from Madawaska!*

* A small town in northern Maine on the Canadian border about 6 hours from Portland.