Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes, 
Little boxes, all the same.
There's a pink one and a green one,
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky,
And they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses
All went to the university,
Where they were put in boxes,
And they came out all the same.
And there's doctors and lawyers
And business executives,
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky,
And they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry,
And they all have pretty children,
And the children go to school.
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university,
Where they are put in boxes,
And they come out all the same.

And the boys go into business
And marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky-tacky,
And they all look just the same.
There's a pink one and a green one,
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky,
And they all look just the same.
 

Download an MP3 sample of "Little Boxes"

You've just been exploring neighborhoods and other places. Now please mull over this little song of Malvina Reynolds' and then write whatever you think appropriate. (If you don't want to write about the song directly--or even indirectly--then write what you DO want to write.) 

Please don't just write the first thing that comes to your mind only.  First things are good to note, but it often takes second and third thoughts--and more!--before you begin to understand what's in there. Give youself enough time to mull it over and write a real essay.

If this is the first hearing of this song for you, then you might want to know that "Little Boxes" is one of the more famous folk songs of the third quarter of the twentieth century.