We bought an apartment building and were going to live off the rent money. We rented to people who were on welfare and a lot of times they couldn't pay the rent. We wouldn't throw them out so we lost the building.
Related quotes
Someone skipped on the rent and they left behind a huge upright piano, which got moved into our apartment so the other apartment could get rented out. I took to it and started playing.
quote by Cy Coleman

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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House of fire (Lyrics)
House of fire
House of fire, yeah
Let's build a house of fire, baby
Not one of wood or stone
Walk thru my door of desire, baby
Come on in and make it your home
Don't need a window to watch you, baby
Don't need no roof overhead
Don't need no key to unlock ya, baby
I'll use my lovin'instead
I won't tire
Take me higher
Building a house of fire, baby
Buildin'it with our love
We are buildin'a house of fire every time we touch
House of fire
House of fire
We ain't gotta pay rent now, baby
No landlord to throw us out
I want to play in your garden, baby
When you want it give me a shout
I won't tire
Take me higher
Building a house of fire, baby
Buildin'it with our love
We are building a house of fire every time we touch
We are building this house together, baby
Standing on solid ground
We are building a house of fire
That you can't tear down
Brick by brick the flames get higher
Build it strong with our desire
Building a house of fire, baby
Building it with our love
We are building a house of fire every time we touch
We are building this house together, baby
Standing on solid ground
We are building a house of fire
That you can't tear down
Building a house of fire, baby
Building it with our love
We are building a house of fire every time we touch
poem by Satan's Sibling

Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Rent
(again... again... again... ooooh
(again... again... again... again... ...)
You dress me up, Im your puppet
You buy me things, I love it
You bring me food, I need it
You give me love, I feed it
And look at the two of us in sympathy
With everything we see
I never want anything, its easy
You buy whatever I need
But look at my hopes, look at my dreams
The currency weve spent
(ooooh) I love you, oh, you pay my rent
(ooooh) I love you, oh, you pay my rent
You phone me in the evening on hearsay
And bought me caviar
You took me to a restaurant off broadway
To tell me who you are
We never-ever argue, we never calculate
The currency weve spent
(ooooh) I love you, oh, you pay my rent
(ooooh) I love you, you pay my rent
(ooooh) I love you, oh, you pay my rent
Im your puppet
I love it
And look at the two of us in sympathy
And sometimes ecstasy
Words mean so little, and money less
When youre lying next to me
But look at my hopes, look at my dreams
The currency weve spent
(ooooh) I love you, oh, you pay my rent
(ooooh) I love you, you pay my rent
(ooooh) ooh, I love you, you pay my rent
Look at my hopes, look at my dreams
The currency weve spent
(ooooh) I love you, oh, you pay my rent
(ooooh) I love you, you pay my rent
Look at my hopes, look at my dreams
The currency weve spent
(ooooh) I love you, oh, you pay my rent
(ooooh) I love you, you pay my rent
(ooooh) I love you, you pay my rent (its easy, its so easy)
(ooooh) you pay my rent (its easy, its so easy)
(ooooh) you pay my rent (its easy, its so easy)
(ooooh) I love you (its easy, its so easy)
(its easy, its so easy)
(its easy, its so easy)
(its easy, its so easy)
(its easy, its so easy)
(its easy, its so easy)
(its easy, its so easy)
song performed by by Pet Shop Boys

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Tenants
I rented my house
To some tenants, chosen in series,
Who still live in my memories.
On rent in some other houses
Too, they could have lived
And stayed in those owners’ memories.
No chance for me to re-rent to them,
No chance for them to reenter mine,
With blocked communications
And choked emotions,
Each departs from the world,
Intimacy living in fantasy.
10.06.2000, Palakkad
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I've never looked at a suburban building as being a minor building and an urban building as being a major building.
quote by Helmut Jahn

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Situation Vacant
Suzy and johnny were happy
Earned enough to pay the rent
But johnnys mother-in-law had too much ambition
And this made johnny very upset
So to keep his little mama satisfied
He went and bought the weekly classified
All for peace and quiets sake
Johnny gave up his position
Just to please his mother-in-law
So he left the job where hed been all his life
He left and turned his back on door[? ]
Now hes looking at the situations vacant
Situations vacant
Just to keep his little mama satisfied
He went and bought the weekly classified
All for peace and quiets sake
Then he had to leave the apartment
And sought a less plush residence
And poor suzy and johnny had to skimp and save
Just to help to pay the weekly rent
So to keep his little mama satisfied
He went and bought the weekly classified
All for peace and quiets sake
Johnnys got no money
Got no where to go
Johnnys in a great big hole
Suzys separated, living with her ma
Now little mamas satisfied
song performed by by Kinks

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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George Orwell's Building - a family dwelling on my street
The Doorman 'tis the guardian of the building-
As the traffic enters in near herds-
Raising a smile is so much easier-
Than waxing poetic 'neath an umbrella of words;
The entrance-it has no exit...
As is oft' such in this overwhelming game of life-
And the Aspens that line the street outside the building-
Wind-wave their own branches of strife;
Never mind the facts about the rains of discontent...
Or that the storm clouds cover up the full moon-
Lunacy and anger all have their own place to reside-
Their rent paid in full at: 'Highnoon';
The building itself is wrapped in cables and pipe-
And is taken care of by a dubious '1984' Crew-
'Big Brother' has taken up housing and all monitering...
Long before the dawn of the new day breaks through;
You have been vetted.
Dedicated to: A.W.
poem by Theodora Onken

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(Love Poem) Building It All Up
Building it all up. Here I come.
With the antidote to what you need.
So sure of myself.
Absolute certainty.
Building it all up.
This is concrete.
No more dragging my feet.
You make me feel whole and complete.
Building it all up.
Time to lay the foundation to the everlasting.
Forever as a word means nothing,
but in my heart it means everything.
Building it all up.
Even when its hard.
Even whens it far.
I still can see my star.
Even in the dark.
It shines so bright.
Building it all up.
I feel so strong.
The weight of whole world on my shoulders.
It will never get old.
It will never get cold.
You are building my fire,
my warmth, everything that means so much.
So build it all up.
Here I come.
Were gonna have so much fun.
But yet the work shall never be done.
I will always love you hun. Always.
poem by Ace Of Black Hearts

Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Labor Day
Labor Day....
forty years of working
and cant pay the rent...
lost my benefits,
lost my house,
cant retire,
now or ever...
cotton mills, furniture factories,
truck driving, house building...
cant afford to fill up with gas.
run down trailer,
better grow your own food.
dont get sick,
cant go to the doctor.
they're bashing unions,
cutting unemployment off.
cant send your kid to school,
cant afford to be buried...
those people in Washington,
and those on the stoop,
cant see your face,
and damn sure,
dont know your name!
poem by Eric Cockrell

Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Coincidence Or Consequence
You have a job but you can't afford the rent
Why is life always just dollars and cents?
If you can't get a job, you can't get a home
Vicious cycle spawns and turns your soul to bone
Kill, kill, die, die, death, death, suicide
Why do you think those rates are so high?
Do you think its just a coincidence that the black male
Is the highest statistic trapped on welfare
Landlord system, life for rent
Capitalism doesn't make any sense
Don't join the system, its suicide!
Coincidence or consequence, YOU DECIDE!
WELFARE IS WARFARE
song performed by by Unseen

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Monastery
A distant building has contained my pleasure,
Having a rich fight with the stress I am an abuser,
The one who fought a dying battle with an assembly
Of brethren, the monks of a building behaving absentmindedly.
This building is distant, the one I want offered on my plate,
It steals the threat of another monk, and how do I accelerate?
This building is a basic block of bricks I call God,
Itself the godly look is a facade much too broad.
I see fit to end my life,
The building is still a monastery, now an afterlife.
poem by Naveed Akram

Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Building The Perfect Beast
The power of reason, the top of the heap
Were the ones who can kill the things we
Dont eat
Sharper than a serpents tongue
Tighter than a bongo drum
Quicker than a one-night stand
Slicker than a mambo band
And now the day is come
Soon he will be released
Glory hallelujah!
Were building the perfect beast
(building, building, etc..)
Its olympus this time- olympus or bust
For we have met the enemy -and he is us
And now the day is come
Soon he will be released
Glory hallelujah!
Were building the perfect beast
(building, building)
Ever since we crawled out of the ocean
And stood upright on the land
There are some things that we just dont
Understand:
Relieve all pain and suffering
And lift us out of the dark
Turn us all into methuselah-
But where are we gonna park?
(building, building)
The secrets of eternity-
Weve found the lock and turned the key
Were shakin up those building blocks
Going deeper into that box- (pandora
Wouldnt like it)
And now the day is come
Soon he will be released
Glory hallelujah!
Were building the perfect beast
(building, building)
All the way to malibu from the land of the
Talking drum-
Just look how far-look how far weve come
song performed by by Don Henley

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I was discriminated against because I was Jewish, Italian, black and Puerto Rican. But maybe the worst prejudice I experienced was against the poor. I grew up on welfare and often had to move in the middle of the night because we couldn't pay the rent.
quote by Philip Zimbardo

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I live in a high rise with my family part of the year in New York and I don't know three quarters of the people in the building. We live in the same square-footage and I wouldn't know who they were.
quote by Dan Aykroyd

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Great Empty
closed!
out of business!
building for rent,
or sale!
22 vacant buildings on one street!
small-town America.
even the sidewalks are deserted...
except for paper cups,
and cigarette butts blowing
in the breeze...
empty windows,
boarded up doors....
the echo of voices
from the past,
from another day...
lost to the great empty!
poem by Eric Cockrell

Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Life For Rent
I haven't ever really found a place that I call home
I never stick around quite long enough to make it
I apologize that once again I'm not in love
But it's not as if I mind
that your heart ain't exactly breaking
It's just a thought, only a thought
But if my life is for rent and I don't learn to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cos nothing I have is truly mine
I've always thought
that I would love to live by the sea
To travel the world alone
and live more simply
I have no idea what's happened to that dream
As there's really nothing left here to stop me
It's just a thought, only a thought
But if my life is for rent and I don't learn to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cos nothing I have is truly mine
But if my life is for rent and I don't learn to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cos nothing I have is truly mine
While my heart is a shield and I won't let it down
While I am so afraid to fail so I won't even try
Well how can I say I'm alive
But if my life is for rent and I don't learn to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cos nothing I have is truly mine
But if my life is for rent and I don't learn to buy
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
Cos nothing I have is truly mine
Coz nothing I have is truly mine,
Coz nothing I have is truly mine,
Coz nothing I have is truly mine.
song performed by by Dido

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Dead End Street
Theres a crack up in the ceiling,
And the kitchen sink is leaking.
Out of work and got no money,
A sunday joint of bread and honey.
What are we living for?
Two-roomed apartment on the second floor.
No money coming in,
The rent collectors knocking, trying to get in.
We are strictly second class,
We dont understand,
(dead end!)
Why we should be on dead end street.
(dead end!)
People are living on dead end street.
(dead end!)
Gonna die on dead end street.
Dead end street (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
On a cold and frosty morning,
Wipe my eyes and stop me yawning.
And my feet are nearly frozen,
Boil the tea and put some toast on.
What are we living for?
Two-roomed apartment on the second floor.
No chance to emigrate,
Im deep in debt and now its much too late.
We both want to work so hard,
We cant get the chance,
(dead end!)
People live on dead end street.
(dead end!)
People are dying on dead end street.
(dead end!)
Gonna die on dead end street.
Dead end street (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
(dead end!)
People live on dead end street.
(dead end!)
People are dying on dead end street.
(dead end!)
Gonna die on dead end street.
Dead end street (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
Head to my feet (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
Hows it feel? (yeah)
Hows it feel? (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
Dead end street (yeah)
song performed by by Kinks

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The character of Rosie is based on a woman who used to live in the same apartment building I lived in many years ago. She's taken on a life of her own, of course.
quote by Sue Grafton

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Importance Of Keeping The Peace
I hope what I say is understood.
The rent I pay to stay in my home,
Is not to listen to others argue...
In front of it.
And I am asking you,
To give me some respect.
By leaving this area...
And taking your mess,
To a place where you pay...
To lay your heads down to rest.
'None of us pay rent.
We live with friends...
Because our parents wont let us in.'
Trust me,
I sympathize with your plight.
However...
With that said,
And like your parents...
I'd like to get some sleep tonight.
And when and 'if'...
You get the opportunity to pay mortgage or rent,
You will come to understand...
The importance of keeping the peace.
Thank you!
And none of that did I ever do to my mother.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Shes An Angel
I met someone at the dog show
She was holding my left arm
But everyone was acting normal so I tried to look nonchalant.
We both said, I really love you,
The shriners loaned us cars
We raced up and down the sidewalk twenty thousand million times
Why did they send her over anyone else?
How should I react? these things happen to other people
They dont happen at all, in fact
When youre following an angel
Does it mean you have to throw your body off a building?
Somewhere theyre meeting on a pinhead
Calling you an angel, calling you the nicest things
I heard they had a space program
When they sing you cant hear, theres no air
Sometimes I think I kind of like that and
Other times I think Im already there
Gonna ask for my admission
Gonna speak to the man in charge
The secretary says hes on another line,
Can I hold for a long, long time?
I found out shes an angel
I dont think she knows I know
Im worried that something might happen to me
If anyone ever finds out
Why, why did they send her over anyone else?
How should I react? these things happen to other people
They dont happen at all
When youre following an angel
Does it mean you have to throw your body off a building?
Somewhere theyre meeting on a pinhead
Calling you an angel, calling you the nicest things
I heard they had a space program
When they sing you cant hear, theres no air
Sometimes I think I kind of like that and
Other times I think Im already there
When youre following an angel
Does it mean you have to throw your body off a building?
Somewhere theyre meeting on a pinhead
Calling you an angel, calling you the nicest things
song performed by by They Might Be Giants

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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