Lyrics

Life and Debt

From exalted to human with the stroke of a pen
Doesn’t seem to mean much these days.
‘Cause when push comes to shove, that bomb drops from above
And the children put the city ablaze.

Just ‘cause the monkeys in suits won’t tally me banana
Doesn’t mean them bellies don’t really ache.
A noose ‘round the neck ain’t a cash-able cheque
But that’s the only deal the IMF makes.
How far that branch gives before it breaks?

Who can you turn to?
Desperate times force the desperate hand, yeah.
Who can you turn to when the money man’s got the key?
Who can you turn to?
Desperate times ‘cross this desperate land, yeah.
Who can you turn to?

White dollars, they come to play in the sun:
Margaritas in the tropical heat.
But that money won’t find you black peace of mind
Only bullets in the city streets.
‘Cause when you can’t buy the seed and the land yields weeds
You sit around always waiting.
Yeah, waiting for the time when you need to rise
And put an end to all of this debating
All of this fussing and a fighting.

Who can you turn to?
Desperate times force the desperate hand, yeah.
Who can you turn to when the money man’s got the key?
Who can you turn to?
Desperate times ‘cross this desperate land, yeah.
Who can you turn to?

Who can you turn to?
Desperate times force the desperate hand, yeah.
Who can you turn to when the IMF lock the door?
Who can you turn to?
Desperate times ‘cross this desperate land, yeah.
Who can you turn to?

Sing loud ‘til the world can’t ignore anymore.

Jamaica is a case study in the brutality of unfettered capitalism. While western tourists play in the country’s paradisaical beaches, smothered in opulence, the people of Jamaica struggle to survive in a continuous downward spiral of poverty. Incapable of competing with the imports like subsidized powdered milk flowing in from the US and with companies like Chiquita and Dole, whose bananas are often grown under slave-like conditions, Jamaica’s economy has been eviscerated. The IMF and the World Bank have raped almost every economy in the third world with their structural adjustment programs, ensuring that the rich and powerful move with unlimited access, while the poor suffer and starve, immobile. The freedom of capital has replaced the dream of freedom for the people.