mstoffel
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05:26:54 pm on November 10, 2008 | # |
So the Lawrence Arms wrote “A Guided Tour of Chicago” about ten years ago about the homeless population in Chicago. I went out and shot some footage at the locations mentioned, to give you a feel of what they’re talking about, only problem is I didn’t encounter one homeless person all day (except the guy in my alley who did not want to be filmed). Since the Northside has been largely white for so long, and the gentrifying happened just slow enough, it’s hard to notice how much the area has changed since the late nineties. Other things to note, there’s no longer a 7-11 on Walton and State, but there is a ton of new construction and the former White Hen in Boystown is now a 7-11 (as they all are).
Lyrics:
He shuffled up a pair of surfer slippers and an old tweed blazer
Asked you for a quarter and you looked the other way
He leaned up against the tow zone sign and just in time for you to avert your eyes,
Said good morning sir. have a nice day.
She wears four wool winter hats all year round and mumbles and sometimes screams
He wears a coat made of burlap sacks and sits in parking lots, never asking anyone for anything
He’s the old black guy with the shopping cart
She’s the old lady with the bright blue sweat pants
They’re the two young white squatter kids with dirty undershirts and rotten teeth
He’s the guy who hangs out underneath the overpass shouting curse words at passing motorists,
Or the guy who passed in my alley, who drank until his life made any sense
He’s the hustler on the train. or his four accomplices, living on three tattered playing cards and slight hand
He’s Darron in front of 7-11 on Walton and State
She’s Babs up and down on Belmont right by the train
He’s Buddy and his wife in Uptown, by the Aragon
He’s Andy selling Streetwise at the White Hen in Boystown
He was Ed from the Southside who gave me cigarettes and hope at Walgreens on Belden and Clark
Where inspiration dies alone
Yeah, these are the people in your neighborhood
They’re the people you don’t see when you’re walking down the street
They’re the people you don’t see each day
