Rocket: The inspiration for this song had a very simple beginning - I was walking through Birmingham's impressive Bullring Shopping Centre thinking "wow, this place is a paradise for shoppers", which soon became "actually this place is a paradise for capitalists", much of the items being unnecessary and sold at vastly inflated prices from what they were worth. Hence, and being a critic of capitalism anyway, I wanted to write a song critical about the greed of capitalism.
I pitched the song to Tiger and James #2 and handed over lyric writing responsibility. To my absolute delight they soon turned it from my petty song about the unnecessary decadence of a Birmingham shopping centre into a hard-hitting song tackling capitalism straight on.
For the instrumentation I took inspiration from The Clash's amazing 'Guns of Brixton', with the bassline creating a tense atmosphere and the drums and guitar keeping the rhythm going.
Tiger: When The Rocket first pitched this song idea I was basically given the theme of Capitalism and a catchy few chords to fill in the gaps. Therefore I took the limited knowledge I had on the subject and produced a couple of somewhat ska-rap inspired verses.
The first verse was mostly me working on my recently developed interest in rap vocals whilst sticking to the general theme of Capitalism, however the second verse was more inspired by a recent VSauce video I found interesting that described the concept of 'fiat money', which is basically the idea that actual currency is only worth the value we give it.
The chorus lyrics alternately were based on The Rocket's idea for the song title to be Capitalist Paradise. However due to the four syllables in 'Capitalist' I decided it'd make for a more cohesive chorus if we only sang "Welcome to paradise".
James #2: I won't claim to know very much about capitalism, so when it came time to write my bridge rap, I chose to address the issue from a very basic perspective. My first thoughts were about how money has taken control of most aspects of our lives, hence the stanza about money being necessary for surviving in this society. Then I decided to extrapolate the concept and consider the extremes to which the commodification of life could go, because dystopian speculation is easier than actual political commentary.
Rocket: Without wanting this to become a conversation thread, I just wanted to say that when it comes to capitalism, dystopian speculation is not necessarily completely dissimilar to actual political commentary! ;)
______________________________________________
lyrics
Tiger:
We fell for your trap, we're fighting for scraps and the war in Iraq was just another attack,
For global oil spoils fuelling loyal royals from others toils till the pot overboils.
They eat the poor, they're hungry for more.
What are they fighting for? There's no reason for war,
Still you ignore, basic human rights and your own damn law. Yeah.
Aim down your sight, fight with all your might.
Ever consider the 1% aren't in the right?
Wrath, Greed, Pride, Gluttony and Envy,
Is there not yet a sin you aren't guilty?
As we continue to be crossed as you raise the cost,
Soon you'll find your paradise will be lost.
M-O-NEY
('Cause all you really think about)
M-O-NEY
(Is the money in your bank account)
M-O-NEY
('Cause all you really think about)
M-O-NEY
(Is the money in your bank account!)
A future for some but not all.
Profit too small, ready for a class brawl.
Roll the dice! Pay the right price!
Welcome to paradise.
There are always gonna people that're richer than others,
But is that reason enough to sell out our brothers?
You're playing a God, that doesn't even care,
About the death of others or human welfare.
But to your disgust, your money's built on trust,
So you'll have to adjust, when your money turns to dust,
You won't think it's so funny, when we have all the money,
And you live in agony and witness all the poverty,
I'll look you in the eye when you're by the curbside,
And I'll decide you're not worth a second of my time,
Hypocrisy I can't abide, but you can't hide the capitalist inside,
So I spit in your face and give you change as I watch this madness die.
M-O-NEY
('Cause all you really think about)
M-O-NEY
(Is the money in your bank account)
M-O-NEY
('Cause all you really think about)
M-O-NEY
(Is the money in your bank account!)
A future for some but not all.
Profit too small, ready for a class brawl.
Roll the dice! Pay the right price!
Welcome to paradise.
James #2:
There's a toll on everything we need from day to day.
If you want to feed your family then you'll have to pay.
If you don't shell out for shelter you'll be on your way
To finding a deity up in the sky to which you'll learn to pray.
'Cause money brings you paradise, yeah it can bring you mirth.
But most of the millionaires were rolling in it from birth.
Now it's holding ransom on damn near everything on this earth.
So how long is it gonna be until we're finding out what a life's worth?
They could put a price on every part and parcel in our lives,
Charge us for the air until we're oxygen deprived.
Charge us for having the gall to want to stay alive,
Until we're selling our souls in a final bid to survive.
Now you can swim in all your riches until you finally drown,
Someday your empire's time to fall will come around.
Our cheers at your downfall will indefinitely resound,
And we'll surround the ground of the mound at the sound of your tower going down.
credits
from Don't We Feel Great?,
released July 7, 2014
Lyrics by Tiger and James #2. Music by The Rocket and James #2.
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