It Used to Mean Something to Be From Here

...You know, and I'm always coming into it
In the middle of the conversation
So I have to, like
Assume
What's been said
And go from there
Which makes things
Difficult, you know?

But mainly, what I'm hearing is, like--

'You should be grateful'

Right?

It's like--I should be--we should be grateful
Because, like, our area's being cleaned up

And there is so much
About that particular statement
That particular way of thinking
That just, sort of, makes me want to
Put my foot through someone's ass

Nothing about this area
This neighborhood
Needed to be 'cleaned up'

And the word 'grateful' implies
That we were this, what?
This dystopian society?
That needed rescuing
From, like, some sort of
Non-Australian-But-Still-White Mad Max figure?

Hey--when that movie came out
Did anybody question why the only people to survive the end of the world
Were the AUSTRALIANS?

The thing is--

We were a neighborhood
Yeah, we weren't the prettiest neighborhood
But it's not like we were a slum either, okay?

We weren't destitute
Or, like, plague-ridden

We were diverse
We had layers
There was substance here, you know?

It used to mean something
To be from here

It meant you were tough
And hard-working
And that family
And friends
And community
Meant something to you

Now it means you listen to the fucking Shinn's
And wear sunglasses made out of wheat
And your sandals cost you more
Than two months of rent

That's what it means now
And that's what we're talking about
When we say we're concerned
About the direction
The neighborhood
Is going in

Because it's changing the meaning
Of this place
And so to be from here
To identify yourself with this place
To say 'these are my roots'
Suddenly that means--

Uh, um, fuck, it just--

It means like 'I'm Whole Foods'
I'm 'Trader Joe's'
I'm Jack White
I'm Coldplay
I'm satchels and B.A.'s in Eastern Philosophy

There's nothing wrong with all that shit
But it's not what this place
Used to be about

It just used to be a place
And now it's a biodome
Without the dome

We're living in this fucking hippy dippy paradise
And it's freaking me out

But you know, you try to have these conversations
And people are scared
They're scared to have them with you
Because they don't want to offend you
But at the same time
They're going right ahead
And making these decisions
Doing these things
But not telling you about them
Because they think if one day you wake up
And it's all just happened
Maybe you won't feel as bad about it?

I mean does that make any fucking sense?

I keep walking into the middle of these conversations
And then they stop

They come to a dead stop

And I just want to say to these people--

'Hey, don't worry about me.  I want to have the conversation, okay? 

I'm very interested
In having
The conversation.'

But nobody will have it

And meanwhile, the bulldozers keep on dozing

And that's it, you know?

The meaning has changed
It's been steamrolled

Suddenly you wake up in a different place
With the same couch

And you keep saying--

'Why didn't anybody tell me this was happening?'

Why didn't anybody
Let me know?