# Songs about poverty **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-poverty/358126 **Category:** Cafe Society **Created:** [May 25, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-poverty/358126 "2006-05-25T02:54:55Z") **Posts on this page:** 6 **Page:** 4
### Author: ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus) #### Post date: [May 29, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-poverty/358126/61 "2006-05-29T18:11:57Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > I may be a bit slow , but what as this do do with poverty? I believe this song was inspired by a news item about the number of potholes in the roads of Blackburn. Bad road maintenance yes , poverty no. 😕 _Holes_ = _dwellings_. You’ve been to Blackburn, no? ---
### Author: ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man) #### Post date: [May 29, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-poverty/358126/62 "2006-05-29T18:14:23Z")
> [@Subterraneanus](#): > > _Holes_ = _dwellings_. You’ve been to Blackburn, no? Unless this is wind-up , no the holes referred to were in the road , they weren’t houses. ---
### Author: ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi) #### Post date: [May 29, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-poverty/358126/63 "2006-05-29T18:39:24Z")
Another one of these-dusty-ole-boots-been-down-a-long-hard-road songs **Early Mornin’ Rain** \*"…with a dollar in my hand and an achin’ in my heart and my pockets full or sand… you can’t jump a jet plane like you can a freight train so I’d best be on my way …" \* ---
### Author: ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel) #### Post date: [May 29, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-poverty/358126/64 "2006-05-29T19:46:45Z")
Although popularized by Peter, Paul and Mary, _Early Mornin’ Rain_ was written by Gordon Lightfoot, who’s recorded several other songs of poverty, including [_Circle of Steel_](http://www.lyricsdepot.com/gordon-lightfoot/circle-of-steel.html) and [_Cotton Jenny_](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/g/gordon+lightfoot/cotton+jenny_20061642.html). Non-Lightfoot tunes (listed by singer of the linked version): Mac Davis, [_Poor Boy Boogie_](http://www.lyricsdownload.com/mac-davis-poor-boy-boogie-lyrics.html) Johnny Rivers.[_Poor Side of Town_](http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/p/poorsideoftown.shtml) Ella Fitzgerald, [_The Lady is a Tramp_](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/e/ella+fitzgerald/the+lady+is+a+tramp_20045916.html) Mary Brookbank, [_The Jute Mill Song_](http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/pages/tiJUTEMIL;ttJUTEMIL.html) ---
### Author: ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar) #### Post date: [May 29, 2006, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-poverty/358126/65 "2006-05-29T19:49:20Z")
I think the pefect shower/poverty song is me and Bobbie McGee. written by Kris Kristofersson and sung so memorably by Janis Joplin. “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose” ---
### Author: ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat) #### Post date: [May 29, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-poverty/358126/66 "2006-05-29T20:19:11Z")
_Mama’s Hungry Eyes_ by Merle Haggard _A canvas covered cabin in a crowded labour camp Stand out in this memory I revived; Cause my daddy raised a family there, with two hard working hands And tried to feed my mama’s hungry eyes._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-about-poverty/358126.md?page=3)