Henry's Songbook

Pity the downtrodden landlord
And his back that's all burdened and bent
Respect his gray hairs, don't ask for repairs
And don't be behind in the rent

Open your hearts and your purses
To a man that is misunderstood
He gets all of your kicks and your curses
Yet he wishes you nothing but good
He tearfully begs you to show him
You think he's a man, not a louse
So remember the debt that you owe him
The landlord who lends you his house

When thunder clouds gather and darken
You may sleep undisturbed in your bed
But the landlord must sit up and hearken
And wonder and worry and dread
If you die, then you'll go in a hurry
And you never will know your bad luck
But the landlord must sit up with worry
Has one of my houses been struck

When a landlord resorts to eviction
Don't think that he does it from spite
He's acting on deepest conviction
And what's right, after all, is what's right
But I see that your hearts are all hardened
And I've been appealing in vain
I hope my last plea will be pardoned
As I beg on my knees once again

As sung by Hamish Imlach

[1976:] Fürbitte für die Vermieter, die ganz allein sind und über ihr Geld weinen müssen, weil niemand sie liebt. (Notes Hamish Imlach, 'Scottish Sabbath')

[1980:] Parody lampoons were making some headway in the thirties and forties - songs like Pity the Downtrodden Landlord. [...] The parodies on the whole were never very good but they did help to [...] pave the way for an acceptance of precisely those two qualities [irresponsibility and irreverence] when the folk revival came. (Norman Buchan in Cowan 169)

http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=30748