Our Mothers Built This City

Our Mothers Built This City
by Si Kahn & Tom Chapin
© Joe Hill Music & The Last Music Co. (ASCAP)

Every time I read the paper
Everywhere I look today.
Every time I check the TV, I
Hear no chance, no hope, no way.
Every time I turn the corner
Someone else is on the street,
“I am hungry. I am homeless.
I will work for food to eat.”
Our mothers built this city.
Our fathers built this town.
Did they live in a harder time than you do,
Than I do?
Did they live in a harder time
Than we do now?

They survived the Great Depression,
World War I and World War II.
They knew the pain of immigration
They did what they had to do.
It seemed back then there was a chance for
Anyone willing to try.
Now it looks like almost no one
Cares if poor folks live or die.
Our mothers built this city.
Our fathers built this town.
Did they live in a meaner time than you do,
Than I do?
Did they live in a meaner time
Than we do now?

Where are all the schools and clinics?
Where are all the jobs and homes?
Where are all that people need
To really stand up on their own?

I see a chip on every shoulder
And I hear the corporate lies
Tearing down all that we worked for,
Selling off our children’s lives.
Divide is still the way to conquer,
Cut the chips and let them fall.
But the hard work’s still the good work
When we build with room for all.
Our mothers built this city.
Our fathers built this town.
We can build upon their work if you do, if I do,
Yes, we can build upon their work
If we do now!
I see a chip on every shoulder
And I hear the corporate lies
Tearing down all that they worked for,
Breaking down our childrens lives.

This song appears on Tom Chapin's At The Turning Point CD.

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