Supply and Demand

Once upon a century  People lived above this glen
There were fifty houses here  With parents and their children
But someone said they owned  What those for generations
Had called their homes across the Scottish nation
Allotments kept on shrinking  While the rent would only rise
One by one the broken crofters  Left the open skies
The frozen shores of Nova Scotia  In a far-off colony
Or somewhere else across the sea

Once upon a century  From the ways of old
From something like the Golden Rule   To the Rule of Gold
It’s just the logic of the market  Supply and demand
Says to drive the people from the land
Instead of eerie silence  Reverberating all around
Among the gardeners and shepherds  You’d hear the sound
Of the pipes and drums and choirs  Of the songs that would be sung
And the stories that were told in the Gaelic tongue

Once upon a century  You’d never think it could
To turn into a field What had been a neighborhood
Once there were the promises Of loyalty or clan
And then there was just “profit if you can”
If we travel back  To a different time and space
It was possible for most  To afford to live some place
But it’s the logic of the market  Each investor’s conviction
More money is just grounds for an eviction

Once upon a century They cleared the Highlands for the sheep
Most folks did not resist As the rent became too steep
They packed their things and moved Scattered far and near
You’d never know that they once were here
Just for the whims of capital The biggest profits for the banks
You fight a war for empire And clearance is your thanks
From the crofts of Scotland To the sidewalks of LA
If anything has changed who can say