They talk of the young boys who pull up the bushes,
They talk of the brats who spray paint on the wall.
But they've nothing to say of the vandals, the vandals
Who tear down the houses in old Montreal.
Chorus:
The houses with filigree stonework,
With masonry laid so it never would fall.
The builders were proud and the dwellers contented,
Who lived in the houses of old Montreal.
I don't like the wild kids who trample the flowers
I've no use for the louts who damage the hall,
But worse and unblamed are the ranters of progress
Who tear down the houses in old Montreal.
(Chorus)
The rooms they were large and the woodwork adorning,
The gardens were lovely, Spring, Summer, and Fall,
But the vandals, the vandals who stack the highrises,
They're making a wasteland of old Montreal.
(Chorus)
There were small corner stores and the streets were familiar,
The kids played together, the neighbors would call,
Now they're scattered and strewn like the exiles of wartime,
Who once graced the houses of old Montreal.