You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don’t you call me 'cause I can’t go
I owe my soul to the company store
Streets Of London by Ralph McTell.
“Have you seen the old girl
Who walks the streets of london
Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags?
She’s no time for talking,
She just keeps right on walking
Carrying her home in two carrier bags”
Any number of songs by Woody Guthrie including:
Also, along the same lines, is “The Ghost of Tom Joad” by Bruce Springsteen and covered by Rage Against the Machine.
“Coal Miner’s Daughter” by Loretta Lynn. (Actually, a few of her songs would work).
“Eat the Rich” by Krokus (I think; some 80s metal band in any case).
Molly Malone (though it’s hard to get an accordion into the shower).
“Sleeping on the Sidewalk” by Queen. More like a “rags to riches to rags” song.
She was poor, but she was honest
Pure unstained was her name
Till the local squire came courting
And the poor girl lost her name
It’s the same the ‘ole world over
It’s the poor what gets the blame
And the rich what gets the gravy
Ain’t it all a cryin’ shame
“The theatre” by the Pet Shop Boys:
And then pretend not to notice
All the years we’ve been here
We’re the bums you step over
As you leave the theatre
In the end you pretend
Because it’s so much easier
We’re the bums you step over
As you leave the theatre
“Father Christmas” by The Kinks.
“What It’s Like” by Everlast
She calls out to the man on the street, sir, can you help me?
It’s cold and I’ve nowhere to sleep, is there somewhere you can tell me
He walks on, doesn’t look back, he pretends he can’t hear her
He starts to whistle as he crosses the street, seems embarassed to be there
Oh, think twice, it’s just another day for you and me in paradise
Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors fits the bill.
Crystal Waters’ “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)”
100 Years by Blues Traveler. First verse + chorus:
The sun is warm as the day is long
I just got the feeling I can do no wrong
I’ve got a long way to walk
Can’t afford my next meal
I tell a few lies but my hunger is real
And it won’t mean a thing in a hundred years
No, it won’t mean a thing in a hundred years
Gorgeous song, too, btw.
“Skid Row” from Little Shop of Horrors
“How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live” and “One Meat Ball” (“You gets no bread with one meatball!”), both covered by Ry Cooder
“When the Levee Breaks,” more the older Memphis Minnie version than Led Zep.
“Canned Heat Blues” and a lot of the songs on this site
I Got You Babe - Sonny & Cher (“they say our love won’t pay the rent, etc”)
"Money Honey" - Elvis Presley:
*You know, the landlord rang my front door bell.
I let it ring for a long, long spell.
I went to the window,
I peeped through the blind,
And asked him to tell me what’s on his mind.
He said,
Money, honey.
Money, honey.
Money, honey, if you want to get along with me.*
Times are bum and getting bummer,
Still, we got fun!
"Everything’s OK" - Hank Williams:
*The hogs took the cholera and they’ve all done died
The bees got mad - and they left the hive
The weevils got the corn and the rain rotted the hay
But - we’re still a-livin’ - so EVER’THING’S Okay.
The porch rotted down - that’s more expense
The durned old mule - he tore down the fence
The mortgage is due and - I can’t pay
But - we’re still a-livin’ - so EVER’THING’S Okay.*
Country Death Song - Violent Femmes. Okay, more about death than poverty, but it was motivated by poverty.