An industrial strip in the shadow of downtown Where tempers flare up when the lights go down Cooking up a batch in a hotel room Till one bad fume, the place goes boom Landlord pigs they won't rent to Working families in Sacramento Move you off to a drug infested Den of a neighbourhood, there's no justice To be poor is a crime Money makes me lose my mind To be poor is a crime First world nation in decline To be poor is a crime Working cla** in the breadline To be poor is a crime California land of the lost Rich get richer and the poor get tossed 2 million working poor last count Lights out in darkness and in doubt Six, seven hundred dollar check, big deal After rent got enough to left for one meal Every new day I'm so numb I can't feel Every night I dream of cold hard steel