Lyr Add: Faucets Are Dripping (Malvina Reynolds)

Subject: Lyr Add: FAUCETS ARE DRIPPING (Malvina Reynolds)
From: GUEST,wikipedia:en:User:JesseW
Date: 09 Aug 06 - 05:28 AM

THE FAUCETS ARE DRIPPING
(Malvina Reynolds)

The faucets are dripping in old New York City
The faucets are dripping & o what a pity
The reservoir's drying because it's supplying
The faucets that drip in New York

You can't ask the landlord to put in a washer
He'd rather you'd move than to put in a washer
The faucets are dripping, they sound in my ears
The tap in the bathroom's been running for years

There's a wild streak of green in the sink in the kitchen
It comes from the rill trickling out of the plumbing
The streams from the mountains the pools from the lea
All run from my faucet & down to the sea

You can't ask the landlord to put in a washer
You can't ask the landlord to mend the old stairs
He takes in the rents & he lives in Miami
Where faucets don't drip & there's sun everywheres

The faucets are dripping, the landlord's content:
With every new tenant he raises the rent
The buildings can crumble the tenants can cry
There's a shortage of housing you'll live there or die

They're building some buildings & fine city centers
It's sure working hell for the low-income renters
They're jammed into rooms with the rat & the fly
Where the faucets all drip & the floor's never dry

From Rise Up Singing, 2004 edition, City chapter, page 18.

The metadata they include is the following:
"Copyright 1959 by Schroder Music Co. (ASCAP), Berkeley, CA 94704. Used by permission. -- On her Another Country Heard fr & in her SB & her Little Boxes. Also on We Won't Move (Folkways), Broadside Singers, Pete Seeger God Bless the Grass & in Survival SB.

I can provide an mp3 copy of the Rise Up Singing teaching tape version on request (send an email via my Wikipedia account, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:JesseW )

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Malvina R. - The Faucets Are Dripping
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Aug 06 - 05:34 AM

Hi, Jesse. We've had a lot of Malvina songs posted, but not that one. Thanks.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Malvina R. - The Faucets Are Dripping
From: GUEST,wikipedia:en:User:JesseW
Date: 09 Aug 06 - 05:39 AM

I've written an adaption of this song set in Los Angeles (where I live). Only a few small changes are required; they are in italic. The chorus tune is slightly altered; go up on the last word, instead of down, since it's shorter, it seems to sound better.

The faucets are dripping in Los Angeleezee
The faucets are dripping while he takes his ease
The reservoir's drying because it's supplying
The faucets that drip in LA

You can't ask the landlord to put in a washer
He'd rather you'd move than to put in a washer
The faucets are dripping, they sound in my ears
The tap in the bathroom's been running for years

There's a wild streak of green in the sink in the kitchen
It comes from the rill trickling out of the plumbing
The State Water Project and the aquaducts
All run from my faucet & down to the sea

You can't ask the landlord to put in a washer
You can't ask the landlord to mend the old stairs
He takes in the rents living in the Marina
Where faucets don't drip & the smog is elsewhere

The faucets are dripping, the landlord's content:
With every new tenant he raises the rent
The buildings can crumble the tenants can cry
There's a shortage of housing you'll live there or die

They're building some buildings & fine city centers
It's sure working hell for the low-income renters
They're jammed into rooms with the rat & the fly
Where the faucets all drip & the floor's never dry

I created this alternative version today, August 8, 2006.
I release whatever copyright I may have in my alterations into the public domain, i.e. NoRightsReserved.

But it would be wonderful if anyone was moved to make other versions for their cities - I'm sure nasty landlords are a problem the world over...

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Malvina R. - The Faucets Are Dripping
From: JesseW
Date: 09 Aug 06 - 05:45 AM

Sorry for this technical bit, but this is just to formally connect my Mudcat user name with "GUEST,wikipedia:en:User:JesseW". We are the same person. If it's possible to reattribute things, please do, otherwise don't worry about it.

---

Hi, Jesse - no, we're not set up to reattribute messages any more.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Malvina R. - The Faucets Are Dripping
From: Charley Noble
Date: 09 Aug 06 - 07:08 PM

My notes to this now classic song in the draft HOUSING SONGBOOK are:

This charming song written by Malvina Reynolds back in 1959, should strike home with those who have shared their lives with the dripping faucet in its various forms and manifestations. As Reynolds points out the faucets of New York City are not the only ones in this world which drip. However, New York City landlords may well be unique in their unresponsiveness to pleas from their tenants for plumbing repairs. This song should be sung in the kitchen with a rhythm section of spoons, pots, pans and dripping water.

Warm regards,
Landlady's Daughter