Music

Slums built on marginal land are prone to disasters like flooding and pose a high risk for residents. Those living beside busy city roads and railways, on shorelines, river banks and on and around rubbish dumps feel the constant dangers of these unsafe environments. With no legal rights to land, trespassers face the threat of eviction and find it impossible to secure a job or obtain credit or finance. Not having a formal, legal address also prevents people from accessing services like healthcare, education, water and electricity. 

In these times of extreme greed and corruption, being poor and homeless is a crime and many vagrants end up in prison. The problem is not limited to third world countries. It occurs in every rich society where the poor are made 'invisible' so as not to upset the well off. The situation is accepted as a necessary evil. It is a simple mathematical equation - if someone is rich, then many more must be desperately poor. It's an economic balancing act. We must face the fact that in this heap of humanity, there must be people at the bottom of the pile. It can never be any different. Not until every nation has a fair and equal economic, social and cultural policy. That's never going to happen. No point in dreaming. 

When there's no point in dreaming

It just hurts you to yearn

You pretend not to notice

Till you're too numb to feel it burn

So you hide from the sunlight

And you cry in the rain

You show no emotion

Till you're too numb to feel the pain

But don't give me pity

And don't criticise me

That counts for nothing

Living down here

You think it's easy

When your heart doesn't bleed

You take it for granted

There'll be more than you need

When there's no point in dreaming

It just hurts you to yearn

You pretend not to notice

Till you're too numb to feel it burn

So you hide from the sunlight

And you cry in the rain

You show no emotion

Till you're too numb to feel the pain