“Welcome to Pipe City (Oakland, California)” is a spirited, story-driven song about resilience in the face of hard times — an opening number imagined for a musical set in a real Depression-era homeless camp along the Oakland waterfront. Framed as a rousing invitation, the song introduces a community of out-of-work men who refuse to be defined by poverty, choosing instead to organize, share, and survive together. It isn’t a history lesson or a lament; it’s a celebration of ingenuity, humor, and stubborn hope. At its heart, Welcome to Pipe City is about dignity, mutual aid, and the enduring belief that even the coldest places can be warmed when people stand together.

Lyrics

If you’re jobless … you belong
If you’re homeless … you belong
If you’re hungry … you belong
Got no shoes, no coat, no hat … you belong

If you’re lonely … you belong
Discouraged … you belong
Feel hopeless, but not helpless … you belong
Musicians, engineers … you belong

Welcome to Pipe City
Join us for some Mulligan Stew
We know it’s a little bit watery
Come meet the mayor
We know he’d like to meet you too

Got initiative? You belong
Responsibility?… You belong
Got a voice up in your head? You belong
Hostility? You belong

Welcome to Pipe City
Join us for some Mulligan Stew
We know it’s a little bit watery
Come meet the mayor
We know he’d like to meet you

Cuz in our community … the concrete’s less hard
In our community … the blankets less torn
In our community … the soup is less watery
Oh the irony
Takes us all to make concrete warm

In our community… the concrete’s less hard
Reciprocal Economy… the blankets less torn
We can end our own poverty … the soup is less watery
That’s our philosophy
Takes us all to make the concrete warm

The Red Squad can’t fire me… the concrete’s less hard
Share my pipe with me … the blankets less torn
Economic Law set free … the soup’s less watery
That’s our philosophy
Takes us all to make the concrete warm

Cuz in our community … the concrete’s less hard
In our community … the blankets less torn
In our community … the soup is less watery
That’s our philosophy
Takes us all to make concrete warm

Takes us all … to make the concrete warm!!