[I note that some of the longer lines spread a word or two a line down. The single words or short phrases by themselves in this piece belong to the lines above them. —r]
They want to build a box store in the northern end of town:
if you ask the city council, they think manna’s falling down;
if you ask the local shoppers, they all pretty well agree:
free parking and low prices sound like heaven don’t you see.
It won’t take long for council to sign on with every permit:
and the planners are exited and the love is flowing surfeit;
and the shoppers are so happy they save up for opening day:
free parking and low prices soon will never go away.
Pretty soon the ground is broken, everybody makes a speech:
the tourists will be flocking in, and heaven’s within reach;
prosperity for everyone and shopping to the skies
free parking and low prices make a shopper’s fever rise.
Bulldozers strip back the ground and soon foundation’s in:
and cranes arrive to rig the steel and slap on all the tin;
and pretty soon the parking lot is paved and marked with stripes:
free parking and low prices open up on Friday night.
The crowds arrive, the traffic jams, and all is as it should be:
the ribbon’s cut, politicos make speeches sweet as could be;
and pretty soon the shoppers flood the aisles and all is well:
free parking and low prices certainly can ring the bell.
Far off in the BIA downtown the merchants are alone:
their stores are all so empty you would think nobody’s home;
it won’t be long before their windows all are boarded up:
free parking and low prices mean they’ve finally had enough.
The wheels of trucks are pounding down the highways to our city:
the roads they use are wearing out, and fuel’s up, more’s the pity;
it looks like taxes have to rise, and environment’s going down:
free parking and low prices have a cost for any town.
The tourists never come here, we’re the same as everyone else:
’cause everyone has a box store, offshore products on the shelves;
too bad we gave up on the things that made us so distinct:
free parking and low prices stole our hearts and jobs—it stinks!
The moral of this story is as simple as ever was:
look a gift horse in the mouth as the Trojans learned because
for everything free there’s a hidden cost as you may finally think:
free parking and low prices stole our hearts and jobs—it stinks!
So please don’t let this tragedy destroy your town and lives:
money sucking box stores turn your downtown into dives;
think ahead and plan it out and keep our jobs at home:
free parking and low prices—just leave well enough alone.
