Songs about Poverty?

Byrnzie

Seems like a fitting time to ask.

Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone

gabers

For artists - Woody Guthrie and Uncle Tupelo. It's no coincidence that Woody Guthrie is perhaps Dylan's and Uncle Tupeolo's greatest single influence.

Yellow Ledbelly

In the Ghetto

gabers

And for the most depressing song ever - Fast Car by Tracy Chapman.

Jeremy1012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f_S_FSnSO4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98EWBKCHsd4

Sian-of-the-dead

Not exactly world poverty orientated like 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' or anything like that, but this song was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the thread title.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctb-SrwL884

Ralph McTell - Streets of London

DOSW

The Ghost of Tom Joad by Bruce Springsteen is one of the best.

dunkman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qs8hNG4mss

unifiedscene

this is a great one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWocnSxWfb0

petrocs

Feed the World?

Byrnzie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAoh_yteKkc

Byrnzie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4s0nzsU1Wg

Yeehaaw!

Byrnzie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f2fTpvpLhg

Now you're lookin' at a man that's gettin' kind-a mad
I had lot's of luck but it's all been bad
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive.

My fishin' pole's broke the creek is full of sand
My woman run away with another man
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive.

A distant uncle passed away and left me quite a batch
And I was livin'g high until that fatal day
A lawyer proved I wasn't born
I was only hatched.

Ev'rything's agin' me and it's got me down
If I jumped in the river I would prob'ly drown
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive.

These shabby shoes I'm wearin' all the time
Are full of holes and nails
And brother if I stepped on a worn out dime
I bet a nickel I could tell you if it was heads or tails.

I'm not gonna worry wrinkles in my brow
'Cause nothin's ever gonna be alright nohow
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive.

I could buy a Sunday suit and it would leave me broke
If it had two pair of pants I would burn the coat
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive.

If it was rainin' gold I wouldn't stand a chance
I wouldn't have a pocket in my patched up pants
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive.

Byrnzie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeDrkDjiu3k

As I was out walking on a corner one day,
I spied an old hobo, in a doorway he lay.
His face was all grounded in the cold sidewalk floor
And I guess he'd been there for the whole night or more.

Only a hobo, but one more is gone
Leavin' nobody to sing his sad song
Leavin' nobody to carry him home
Only a hobo, but one more is gone

A blanket of newspaper covered his head,
As the curb was his pillow, the street was his bed.
One look at his face showed the hard road he'd come
And a fistful of coins showed the money he bummed.

Only a hobo, but one more is gone
Leavin' nobody to sing his sad song
Leavin' nobody to carry him home
Only a hobo, but one more is gone

Does it take much of a man to see his whole life go down,
To look up on the world from a hole in the ground,
To wait for your future like a horse that's gone lame,
To lie in the gutter and die with no name?

Only a hobo, but one more is gone
Leavin' nobody to sing his sad song
Leavin' nobody to carry him home
Only a hobo, but one more is gone

Byrnzie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo46V3Y8auE

The Landlord's here to visit
They're blasting disco down below
Sez, "I'm doubling up the rent
Cos the building's condemned
You're gonna help me buy City Hall"

But we can, you know we can
But we can, you know we can
Let's lynch the landlord man

I tell them 'turn on the water'
I tell 'em 'turn on the heat'
Tells me 'All you ever do is complain'
Then they search the place when I'm not here

But we can, you know we can
Let's lynch the landlord
Let's lynch the landlord
Let's lynch the landlord man

There's rats chewin' up the kitchen
Roaches up to my knees
Turn the oven on, it smells like Dachau, yeah
Til the rain pours thru the ceiling

But we can, you know we can
Let's lynch the landlord man

reeferchief

Redemption Song - Bob Marley as performed here by Joe Strummer http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=E4HNE2bvRF8

You know hearing Joe Strummer perform this can reduce me to tears if I'm feeling emotional enough, yet when Chris Cornell performs it the sentiment is lost in translation.

Lizard

Crazy Mary---at least I always think of poverty when I hear it.

pjoasisrule

Phil Collins - Another Day In Paradise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftlYLcEW_I4

A bunch of songs by Bob Marley

Byrnzie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUcXI2BIUOQ

I ain't got no home, ain't got no shoes
Ain't got no money, Ain't got no class
Ain't got no skirts, Ain't got no sweater
Ain't got no perfume Ain't got no bed
Ain't got no mind,

Ain't got no mother Ain't got no culture
Ain't got no friends, aint got no schoolin'
Ain't got no love, Ain't got no name
Ain't got no ticket, Ain't got no token
Ain't got no god

and what have i got?
why am i alive anyway?
yeah what have i got?
nobody can take away?...

Got my hair. Got my head
Got my brains, Got my ears
Got my eyes, Got my nose
Got my mouth, I got my smile

I got my tongue, Got my chin
Got my neck, Got my boobies
Got my heart, Got my soul
Got my back, I got my sex

I got my arms, got my hands, got my fingers,
got my legs, got my feet, got my toes,
got my liver, got my blood..

I've got life,
i've got my freedom
i've got life
I've got life
and I am gonna keep it
I've got life
and nobody's gonna take it away
I've got life!

suns rival

what about even flow?

Byrnzie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOg_8hCC4u4

I was the third brother of five,
Doing whatever I had to do to survive.
I'm not saying what I did was alright,
Trying to break out of the ghetto was a day to day fight.

Been down so long, getting up didn't cross my mind,
I knew there was a better way of life that I was just trying to find.
You don't know what you'll do until you're put under pressure,
Across 110th Street is a hell of a tester.

Across 110th Street,
Pimps trying to catch a woman that's weak
Across 110th Street,
Pushers won't let the junkie go free.
Across 110th Street,
Woman trying to catch a trick on the street.
Across 110th Street,
You can find it all in the street.

I got one more thing I'd like to y'all about right now.
Hey brother, there's a better way out.
Snorting that coke, shooting that dope man you're copping out.
Take my advice, it's either live or die.
You've got to be strong, if you want to survive.

The family on the other side of town,
Would catch hell without a ghetto around.
In every city you find the same thing going down,
Harlem is the capital of every ghetto town.

Across 110th Street,
Pimps trying to catch a woman that's weak
Across 110th Street,
Pushers won't let the junkie go free.
Across 110th Street,
A woman trying to catch a trick on the street, ouh baby
Across 110th Street,
You can find it all in the street.
Yes he can, oh

Look around you, just look around you,
Look around you, look around you, uh yeah.