Forum Post: BRILLIANT Protest Song !!! ~ by Steve Forbert

This song was shown to me in another post by PublicCurrency. I think its "brilliant" and needs to be in a main post. Steve Forbert is uniquely talented in lyrics and vocals.

"This song, released in May 2011, is a protest piece about the underhanded, unethical (and illegal?) tactics used by some of the most prominent and powerful figures in American finance. By "tactics" I mean maneuvers going back for years that ultimately played directly into causing the worldwide Financial Meltdown of late 2008, which has caused so much hardship for so many individuals. (Many others will be harmed for years to come.) It has been called The Wall Street Collapse although not much collapsing seems to have actually taken place on Wall Street itself. Many of the top players have in fact profited "big time" from our tax payer-funded bail out."

http://steveforbert.bandcamp.com/track/set-the-world-ablaze

Set The World Ablaze

The quick mart cashier's name is Val'ry, She's sixty something years of age; If you were paid a weekly sal'ry, What would be your hourly wage?

You've set the world ablaze,
So give yourself a raise!

The dealer on the billboard poster, Is wanted by the law today; And things will go the way they're s'posed to, So rest assured the man will pay.

The Bernie thing had one slick owner, And Bernie did get sent to jail; It's bad to work as one slick loner, It's best to be too big to fail!

You've set the world ablaze, So give your self a raise!

Well, those supposed to over see you, Have often been in your employ; In truth they might as well just be you, It's quite a niche that you enjoy.

The rating firms exist to rate you, They're paid by you which works out well; And they'll of course accommodate you, And clear the things you'd like to sell.

You've set the world ablaze, So give your self a raise!

You maximize your machinations, Till certain laws are all but tame; You erode the regulations, And then you're free to game the game.

You sell investors bags of bungles, Some stuff you know is bound to fail, And then make bets against the bundles, So you win big behind the veil!

You've set the world ablaze, So give yourself a raise!

credits released 05 October 2011 Written by Steve Forbert