I wrote this song in response to the 2008 financial and housing collapse, and how people who stood for those affected were marginalized, and mocked. The Occupy Wall Street movement had/has a powerful message, and government (and business) entities did little for the ordinary citizen, yet bailed out financial institutions who have little changed their ways. Business as usual. Inequity and inequality continue and with many examples the average working person is worse off than before. I invite you to read/listen to Robert Reich and Chris Hedges, among others. Wealth in the hands of a few is a bad idea, and dangerous.
If you last five minutes through this song, I thank you. Recorded in a very spare style, in one take, with an acoustic guitar and a vocal. Jacob McCauley plays the bodhran. I am trying to get a Leonard Cohen vibe in my voice. My apologies to Mr. Cohen.
We are being sold snake oil, and there is little alternative at this time. Support small, local business. And be loyal to them. Let's start there.
JCJ Oct 2022
Rising Young Man
He’s a rising young man, suit and a tie
Never enough money, never enough of the pie
Let me say this to you and yours
Fortunes are made on the backs of the poor
Played football in college til he blew out his knee
Took a management job, the head of team
Went through the ranks with disregard
For the lives that depended on workin’ hard
There is an angle, there is a move
More and more it’s my only groove
How much is enough, when does the boy rest
He’d bring down an empire as a way to invest
Weather change it’s a way to control
How the markets will move when he puts on his show
There on TV in our front rooms
Condescending, patriarchal, spinning doom
Rome may be burning so let ‘em eat cake
If they didn’t see it coming it’s not my mistake
If this was the wild west, sell snake oil to you
And you’d buy it cause y’all need a fix for these blues
There is an angle, there is a move
More and more it’s my only groove
How much is enough, when does the boy rest
He’d bring down an empire as a way to invest
When you own big business, you own the news
One percent win and the rest of us lose
They throw a few crumbs, make you grateful
Full disclosure this is truly disgraceful
If you’re honest, decent, the hard workin’ kind
You’ll end up helping, keep this in mind
A few will make it, you can join the club
You’ll soon be like them and much less like us
There is an angle, there is a move
More and more it’s my only groove
How much is enough, when does the boy rest
He’d bring down an empire as a way to invest
He’s a rising young man, suit and a tie
Never enough money, never enough of the pie
Let me say this to you and yours
Fortunes are made on the backs of the poor
Let me say this to you and yours
Fortunes are made on the backs of the poor
© songsarefiction/EastOak Media group
words and music JCJ
Guitar and vocal: JCJ
Bodhran: Jacob McCauley
Oakville Beer Barrel Choir: Mike Clarke, Steve Kirstein, Jacob McCauley, Jim Jones (not me!), Jimmy Ruffolo
Recorded at River16 Studios September 2012
Producer: JCJ
Engineer: Steve Kirstein
Mastered at Joao Carvalho by Tim Branton
Photo: Kyle Weir
...