How we gonna make Wall Street pay (with Anitek)
Melody and Lyrics: Lonnie Ray Atkinson
Vocals: Lonnie Ray Atkinson
Music Track: 3 Instrumentals (Windmills, Sunrise, and Gray Area) by Anitek
This is a song for all those present or in solidarity with OccupyWallStreet. It is under the Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0.
Lyrics:
verse one:
you know there's cats who got time for shoplifting
low level hustle and street grifting
knowing they going up for a nickel and dime
but when it comes to credit default swaps on subprime
these cats steal billions, get bailed out with trillions
get fired and walk away with a killing
and when they settle, it's for pennies on the dollar
they say that crime don't pay, i say check the color of your collar
i won't – be happy til them white collars do a blue collar bid
and the whole world knows what they did
i'm talking jailbirds / yeah, them too big to failbirds
bailouts to too big to bailbirds
that's right, no bail no bounce
jury foreman hollering guilty on all counts
what you waiting for, is there something i missed
i wanna hear cuffs clanking strangling they naked wrists
i wanna hear CEOs hollering numbers for names
I wanna hear lobbyists in the next cell doing the same
i wanna hear stock brokers breaking rocks in the rain
i wanna hear a hedge fund choir singing chain chain chain
yeah what a sound, their whole world turned upside down
going from forbes 400 to mug shots
country clubs to gen pop / and it don't stop
living high on the hog to low key in the pokey
symphonies and operas to solitary karaoke
i want to see their face when it's sunk in, toilet wine drunken
penthouse to bottom bunking
chorus:
– are you tired of sitting through this same old foul play / then tell me how we gonna make wall street pay
– if them punk politicians let them crooks get away / then tell me how we gonna make wall street pay
– if your conscience won't allow you to look the other way / then tell me how we gonna make wall street pay
– if you want justice and you can't wait another day / then tell me how we gonna make wall street pay
second verse:
but, wait, what if we can't indict 'em
well what you think, we gotta find other ways to fight 'em
be creative, sharpen your minds, sharpen your pencils,
hit 'em old school, spray paint, stickers and stencils
adbusting, walls of shame, faces and names
culture jammers, you gotta step up your game
put their resolve to the test
everywhere they go, they hearing "citizen's arrest"
yes men style, public humiliation
make 'em prisoners to their filthy reputation
boycotts and ostricization
long term and flash occupations,
investors and shareholders' meetings, every chance we get
every party they throw you know we crashing it
from the websites to the jobsites, slow 'em down
from direct action to class action, it's going down
wipe that sinful of grin off they faces
with bad press, falling stocks, and civil cases
From wall street to y'all's street we gonna find a way
i said from lawyers to subprime paupers, everybody say
chorus:
– are you tired of sitting through this same old foul play / then tell me how we gonna make wall street pay
– if them punk politicians let them crooks get away / then tell me how we gonna make wall street pay
– if your conscience won't allow you to look the other way / then tell me how we gonna make wall street pay
– if you want justice and you can't wait another day / then tell me how we gonna make wall street pay
third verse:
and if they still think it's funny, if they still think it's funny
move your money, move your money
and see how long they laugh when there's a run on cash
withdraw it all, close your account and make the dash
to credit unions and small locally owned banks
tell them piggy bankers no thanks
change your habits, change your lifestyle, make your life smile
but if you want these changes to be worthwhile
we gotta figure bigger ways to resist 'em
you wanna hit 'em where it hurts you hit the system
that means you change the institutions
build the foundation for a real revolution
liberation through democratic innovation
start with coops and worker run organizations
grow your own networks like solidarity economy
permaculture and open source ecology
parecon, alternative visions
now, tell me what's it gonna take for us to make the decision
chorus:
– are you tired of sitting through this same old foul play / then tell me how we gonna make wall street pay
– if them punk politicians let them crooks get away / then tell me how we gonna make wall street pay
– if your conscience won't allow you to look the other way / then tell me how we gonna make wall street pay
– if you want justice and you can't wait another day / then tell me how we gonna make wall street pay
This song is under the Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0.
You are free to download this song and share it with as many people as you like (please respect and include attributions).