Concrete Can't Grow

Concrete can't grow (can't grow)
no matter how they pour.
Concrete can't grow (can't grow)
so we planting something more.

They build a big tower where the garden used to be,
sell the sunshine back to you and me.
Fence off the river, put a gate on the sea,
then they wonder why the young ones can't breathe free.
Boarded-up window and a broken swing,
politician promise you a golden thing —
but the promise dry up like the summer stream
and the concrete choke the last green dream.

You can't kill a seed by paving the yard —
it'll crack through the sidewalk, push through hard.
Every little root know which way to go,
'cause the concrete can't grow — it never will.

Concrete can't grow, but the people can,
push a rooftop garden past their plan. (can't grow)
Plant a seed in the crack, watch it climb —
concrete can't grow, but we reaching the sky.

Can't grow, can't grow. (but we know)
Can't grow, can't grow. (but the people know)
Crack the pavement, let the green come through.

They can price you out of the block you was born,
turn the corner shop to a coffee and scorn.
But the auntie on the stoop still know your name
and the domino table still play the same.
You can gentrify the brick and the mortar line,
but you can't buy the soul of a people's shine.
We'll plant a little rooftop, we'll grow a little food,
'cause the concrete can't grow, but the neighbourhood could.

Every little root know which way to go,
'cause the concrete can't grow — it never will.

Concrete can't grow, but the people can,
push a rooftop garden past their plan. (can't grow)
Plant a seed in the crack, watch it climb —
concrete can't grow, but we reaching the sky.

Miss Ivy grow tomatoes in a paint-can row
on a fire-escape ledge where the sun still go.
They can price out the block but the will don't sell —
and the tomatoes climb up the fire-escape rail.

Concrete can't grow (can't grow)
Every crack a little door (push it up)
where the garden grow once more.

Concrete can't grow, but the people can,
push a rooftop garden past their plan. (can't grow)
Pour it grey — it won't pour deep:
every seed a promise we keep.

Concrete can't grow (can't grow)
no matter how they pour.
So we planting something more.