The Ballad of the Camp4Unity 15

A few days ago, a friend listened to Dreamy Echoes on the blog and said I should write a song about the Camp4Unity 15. I sort of took it as a dare. It's a ballad. 2631 refers to the number of people counted outside last January on a night the shelters were past full. 35 is the number of new beds the city has provided to offset the displacement caused by homeless sweeps.


Tell you a story 'bout a town that's green,
where the condos they leap to the sky.
People downtown yeah they're gettin' real mean,
don't care much if poor people die.
Shelters are packed and the cards are all stacked,
most of us are on our way down.
The Mayor one day said the rich are OK.
but the poor gotta get out of town.

Yeah they call it compassion. We say it is not.
Like ashes it tastes on my tongue.
Oh we're all endin' homelessness. It'll take some more time.
This old song is still bein' sung.
But we know what's right and we know what's wrong and we know what's false and true.
And we know that we're gonna stay and fight. It's the right thing to do. We're not goin' away …

They tore down the tents they're all garbage they said.
You can't sleep in public at night.
Can't be o'er here you can't even be there,
the city it just isn't right.
They made up some rules, then they added some beds,
it's better this way they all said.
We'd like you all better if you just went away,
We'd like you all better off dead.

They call it compassion. We say it is not.
Like ashes it tastes on my tongue.
Oh we're all endin' homelessness. It'll just take some more time.
This old song is still bein' sung.
But we know what's right and we know what's wrong and we know what's false and true.
And we know that we're gonna stay and fight. It's the right thing to do. We're not goin' away …

We set up new camp where the Mayor can see,
more people they come every time.
We stand up for ourselves, we stand out in the street,
we say survival is never a crime.
We're 2631, not just thirty-five,
they know that there's nowhere to go.
There's nowhere to go to be safe and alive,
to be warm in the rain and the snow.

We camped out for justice. We camped out for love.
We camped out because we're still free.
We'll camp out again for as long as it takes.
We'll camp out 'til they finally see.
But we know what's right and we know what's wrong and we know what's false and true.
And we know that we're gonna stay and fight. It's the right thing to do. We're not goin' away …