Tom: D
D A
The patroons came from Holland to America, became landlords where none had been before
D
Soon one man owned half a million acres, on both sides of the Hudson River shore
A
He invited families to move in, and give him thirty percent
D
Of everything they grew each year, this is how they'd pay the rent
A
His name was Rensselaer, he became one of the richest men on Earth
D
In today's terms ninety billion dollars, is how much he'd be worth
A
All this for doing nothing, but saying all of this was his
D
“I have the power of the state behind me, and I'm in the landlord biz”
A
After two hundred years of this, and one revolution won
D
Another Rennsalaer had another son
A
And this Rennsalaer was greedier, than his ancestors dead and passed
D
It was now the 1840's, and things started changing fast
A
It was the straw that broke the back, the bottle was uncorked
D
They started organizing meetings, the tenant farmers of New York
A
They found the strength of numbers, they found the power of suggestion
D
They found each other, asking the same question
[Chorus]
D A
Who gave you the right to be a landlord, to live a life of ease while others toil
D
Who gave you the right to be a rich man, while the rest of us pay you so that we can work this soil
[Verse]
D A
They vowed that they would stop the rent collection, they vowed they'd bring this madness to an end
D
And when one blew the tin horn of distress, they'd soon find they had a thousand friends
A
Dressed in calico skirts with masks upon their faces, on horseback, armed with knives and guns
D
They chanted and they yelled, they kept their farms, and they kept the sheriffs on the run
[Chorus]
D A
Who gave you the right to be a landlord, to live a life of ease while others toil
D
Who gave you the right to be a rich man, while the rest of us pay you so that we can work this soil
[Bridge]
D A A D
[Verse]
D A
The governor's militias tried to stop them, but nothing could be done to break their will
D
And by 1848 the landlords buckled and sold their holdings to the farmers in the hills
A
Yes they overthrew this feudal system, but it's replaced now by speculators and banks
D
And you can still hear the homeless families asking of all the landed gentry in our ranks
[Chorus]
D A
Who gave you the right to be a landlord, to live a life of ease while others toil
D
Who gave you the right to be a rich man, while the rest of us pay you so that we can work this soil
D A
Who gave you the right to be a landlord, to live a life of ease while others toil
D
Who gave you the right to be a rich man, while the rest of us pay you so that we can work this soil
D
Who gave you the right?
