Things are dull in San Francisco,
“On the bum” in New Orleans;
“Rawther punk” in cultured Boston,
Famed for codfish, pork, and beans.
“On the hog” in Kansas City;
Out in Denver things are jarred;
And they’re “beefing” in Chicago
That the times are rather hard.
Not much doing in St. Louis;
It’s the same in Baltimore;
Coin don’t rattle in Seattle
As it did in days of yore.
Jobs are scarce around Atlanta
All through Texas it is still.
And there’s very little stirring
In the town of Louisville.
There’s a howl from Cincinnati,
New York City, Brooklyn too;
In Milwaukee’s foamy limits
There is little work to do.
In the face of all such rumors,
It seems not amiss to say
That no matter where you’re going
You had better stay away.
POETRY AND HOBO SOLIDARITY
In song and ballad the hobo expresses life as he feels and sees it. Through poetry he creates a background of tradition and culture which unifies and gives significance to all his experiences. His ballads of the road and his battle songs of protest induce a unanimity of sentiment and attitudes, the strongest form of group solidarity in the hobo world.
Through the universal language of poetry the homeless man bridges the chasm of isolation that separates him from his fellows. In song and ballad he communicates his memories and his hopes to men everywhere who, fascinated by his experiences, perceive in them only a different expression of the human wishes of every person.