Oh, the price of gold is rising out of sight,
And the dollar is in sorry shape tonight.
What a dollar used to get us
Now won’t get a head of lettuce,
No, the economic forecast isn’t bright.
But amidst the clouds I spot a shining ray,
The Federal Reserve has paved the way.
I’ve devised a plan of action,
Worked it down to the last fraction,
And I’m going into action here today:
Chorus
I’m changing my name to Wall Street,
I am going down to Washington D.C.
I’ll tell friends of Bush and Barack’s,
“What you did for Goldman-Sa-achs
Would be perfectly acceptable to me.”
I am changing my name to Wall Street,
I am leaving for that great receiving line.
When they hand a billion grand out,
I’ll be standing with my hand out,
Yes sir, I’ll get mine.
When my creditors come screaming for their dough,
I’ll be proud to tell them all where they can go.
They won’t have to yell and holler,
They’ll be paid to the last dollar
Where the endless streams of money seem to flow.
I’ll be pocketing a trillion, I confess,
Thanks to the U.S. government’s largesse.
Don’t pay firemen or teachers,
That’s what socialism preaches,
And we’re a capitalistic nation, more or less.
Chorus
I am changing my name to Wall Street,
I am going down to Washington D.C.
I’ll tell friends of Bush and Barack’s,
“What you did for Goldman-Sa-achs
Would be perfectly acceptable to me.”
I am changing my name to Wall Street,
I am leaving for that great receiving line.
When they hand a billion grand out,
I’ll be standing with my hand out,
Yes sir, I’ll get mine.
Since the first amphibians crawled out of the slime,
We’ve been struggling in an unrelenting climb.
We were hardly up and walking
Before money started talking,
And Wall Street got away with any crime.
It’s been that way since capital became
An “ism” that has no sense of shame
If you’re a corporate Titanic
And your failure is gigantic,
Down in Congress there’s a bailout with your name.
Chorus
I am changing my name to Wall Street,
I am going down to Washington D.C.
I’ll tell friends of Bush and Barack’s,
“What you did for Goldman-Sa-achs
Would be perfectly acceptable to me.”
I am changing my name to Wall Street,
I am leaving for that great receiving line.
When they hand a billion grand out,
I’ll be standing with my hand out,
Yes sir, I’ll get mine.
———————————————
(Original — Tom Paxton
New words by Mitchel Cohen, Brooklyn Greens/Green Party)
Hey Mitchel,
This is just what I needed to lift myself out of the tsunami and assorted other doldrums. We have to laugh, criticize and protest all at the same time, and your song (or Tom Paxton’s song) does it all. I’m sharing this with friends. It is right on time and oh so true.
BTW, we are mounting our own little challenge to Wall Street here in Greensboro, NC. We have a local currency project that you can learn about at http://www.greensborocurrencyproject.blogspot.com . Check it out and send a blog. We will be printing local money which for now will by in parity with the dollar, but which we aim to move toward de-linking from the dollar once people are more familiar with it and the hard work of community building and education has been done.
as always,
Signe
Hey Mitch, So funny and so true. Let’s all break out our guitars, harmonicas. Let’s use all types of instruments. Let’s express our feelings about a world off its spin. We can all be Arlo Guthry. We’ll join with three or more people and go all around singing one line from our folk song. we can all go to washington and wall street and the indian river nuclear power and make a movement. love – kit
I think I really WILL change my name to Wall Street.
Just amazing!! Tom Paxton meets Tom Lehrer channeled by our own great amazing wonderful Mitchel Cohen!!!
Can’t believe this website and what you accomplish! And to cap it all off— also write brilliantly witty parodies, etc!!!!!!!