Dar Williams — Play the Greed
Album: Hempilation 2Avg rating:
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Total ratings: 364
Length: 3:04
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I finally learned that the market's righteous holler
Comes from a pale face on a paper dollar
And I betcha got few bucks in your hemp wallet
So throw a tiny wrench in the fiber optic wires
Morals are cheap and you can be the buyers
We can let 'em poison and perish foreign lands
Or we can play the greed right into our hands
Everybody says it can't happen here
Everybody says it can't happen here
Things'll turn around just as sure as they said it
Hell, things change and they all take credit
So ask why there's only forty songs on a station
And ask your cafe about their coffee's plantation
And why is it Arizona hasn't gone solar?
And tell your print shop that hemp grows faster
And it doesn't mean a back room clear cut disaster
The market doesn't care but it wants to understand
And you can play the greed right into your hands
Smiling man says it can't happen here
Channel 4 says it can't happen here
Things'll turn around just as sure as they said it
Hell, the change comes and they all take credit
So roll up your pennies and do your battle
The chairman will start quoting Chief Seattle and
Put little tree frogs on their letterhead
'Cause the market resists and the market absorbs
With a five-pointed leaf on the cover of Forbes
The very same people turned valleys to dams
These are the ones that drain prairies to sand
And they'd just as soon you didn't know this land is your land
But we can play the world back into our hands
Malcom's gonna say it can't happen here
Rupert's gonna say it can't happen here
Things'll turn around just as sure as they said it
Hell, things change and they'll always take the credit
Hell the change comes
Let's let 'em take the credit
Comes from a pale face on a paper dollar
And I betcha got few bucks in your hemp wallet
So throw a tiny wrench in the fiber optic wires
Morals are cheap and you can be the buyers
We can let 'em poison and perish foreign lands
Or we can play the greed right into our hands
Everybody says it can't happen here
Everybody says it can't happen here
Things'll turn around just as sure as they said it
Hell, things change and they all take credit
So ask why there's only forty songs on a station
And ask your cafe about their coffee's plantation
And why is it Arizona hasn't gone solar?
And tell your print shop that hemp grows faster
And it doesn't mean a back room clear cut disaster
The market doesn't care but it wants to understand
And you can play the greed right into your hands
Smiling man says it can't happen here
Channel 4 says it can't happen here
Things'll turn around just as sure as they said it
Hell, the change comes and they all take credit
So roll up your pennies and do your battle
The chairman will start quoting Chief Seattle and
Put little tree frogs on their letterhead
'Cause the market resists and the market absorbs
With a five-pointed leaf on the cover of Forbes
The very same people turned valleys to dams
These are the ones that drain prairies to sand
And they'd just as soon you didn't know this land is your land
But we can play the world back into our hands
Malcom's gonna say it can't happen here
Rupert's gonna say it can't happen here
Things'll turn around just as sure as they said it
Hell, things change and they'll always take the credit
Hell the change comes
Let's let 'em take the credit
Comments (51)add comment
Right On Dahlia!!! Super Sweet
Like the message and the music — thanks!
STUPENDOUS tune. Love it. Beautifully wrought. Sing it out, Dar.
Shimmer wrote:
You can accomplish much if you don't care who gets the credit. - Ronald Reagan (irony much?)
Didn't he get that line from Eleanor Roosevelt?
You can accomplish much if you don't care who gets the credit. - Ronald Reagan (irony much?)
Didn't he get that line from Eleanor Roosevelt?
ziggytrix wrote:
What possible incentive would any large corporate entity have to promote artists who express sentiment against large corporate behavior anyway?
Because self-righteous college-age upper-middle-class white suburban kids whose comfortable lifestyles are possible thanks to large corporations (such as the ones who built the computer you're using right now and wrote the software you're running on it) are a market in their own right. That's kind of the point of the song, except Dar isn't quite as cynical about it: it's a market economy, so let's use our consumer clout to get things done our way.
Marr wrote:
There are forms of solar power that do not involve panels. And they're much more environmentally friendly than internal combustion engines or nuclear.
Think "Earthship" (google it if not familiar). Great idea for those in a suitable climate... not quite as much for the rest of us...
mojoman wrote:
Because it requires a tremendous amount of energy and resources to produce those solar panels, and they require manufacturing processes that use things such as mercury and cadmium that are very hard and expensive to keep out of the environment.
Typical liberal pie-in-the-sky stuff without considering the real-world cost.
There are forms of solar power that do not involve panels. And they're much more environmentally friendly than internal combustion engines or nuclear. And frankly I think if there was a will we could even develop panels that were cheap and eco-friendly too. It doesn't take "liberal pie-in-the-sky" to want such a result.
huebdoo wrote:
Nice Lyrics... boppy beat with a message... now only if someone could put this kind of intelligent lyrics into a Rap tune that the majority of the lazy youth would hear on thier MTV.
"Intelligent" might be putting it a bit strongly.
Liberal, far-left propaganda. Actually, all these are good points, but the preachiness is kind of annoying.
So ask why there's only forty songs on a station
Bill asked that question years ago, Dar!
More seriously, anyone saying they can't change the system are just lazy bums.
The American people's connivance on the matter presages a dark future for the world. 
huebdoo wrote:
Nice Lyrics... boppy beat with a message... now only if someone could put this kind of intelligent lyrics into a Rap tune that the majority of the lazy youth would hear on thier MTV.
there's plenty of intelligent hip-hop out there, but MTV has never been interested in playing it.
rapper/activist Chuck D wrote:"Intermediaries are judging your art before it even gets to the public. That's why the internet is a beautiful thing. Unlike MTV it's not based on exclusivity of power."
And I can't imagine you'd hear Dar Williams on VH1 or a Clear Channel radio station either. What possible incentive would any large corporate entity have to promote artists who express sentiment against large corporate behavior anyway?
Rob_S wrote:
A song against greedy capitalistic markets, with some slide steel guitar? I love it.
Just the opposite, she's arguing that we should use the greedy capitalistic markets as a force for good.
A song against greedy capitalistic markets, with some slide steel guitar? I love it.
Excellent lyrics! Even better was reading all the comments reacting to the lyrics and other people's opinions.
mojoman wrote:
Because it requires a tremendous amount of energy and resources to produce those solar panels, and they require manufacturing processes that use things such as mercury and cadmium that are very hard and expensive to keep out of the environment.
Typical liberal pie-in-the-sky stuff without considering the real-world cost.
When has concern for the environment ever stopped a company from trying to make a buck? If you believe the primary reason for lack of solar panels is due to environmental concerns, then I have some beachfront proprty in AZ I'd like to sell you.
The reason is profit. If it was profitable, they would be tripping over themselves trying to make the panels.
mojoman wrote:
Typical liberal pie-in-the-sky stuff without considering the real-world cost.
Oh..you mean the cost of staying dependent on the energy sources we're currently depending on...
Yeah...those have no "real world costs" at all.
*looks sadly over towards Iraq*
Nice Lyrics... boppy beat with a message... now only if someone could put this kind of intelligent lyrics into a Rap tune that the majority of the lazy youth would hear on thier MTV.
This is funny. I worked at the coffee shop "The Coffee Plantation" in Tempe AZ.
coldatlantic wrote:
"Hell when change comes, they all take credit." That's one of the most infuriating things about watching the news-- As soon as a positive step is taken towards environmental protection, justice, peace, etc, the politicians start running around looking for microphones. Yet positive change is positive change, and like the Dar says at the close of the song, "Let's let em take the credit"
You can accomplish much if you don't care who gets the credit.
- Ronald Reagan (irony much?)
dsmcd01 wrote:
And why is it Arizona hasn't gone solar?
.
Because it requires a tremendous amount of energy and resources to produce those solar panels, and they require manufacturing processes that use things such as mercury and cadmium that are very hard and expensive to keep out of the environment.
Typical liberal pie-in-the-sky stuff without considering the real-world cost.
dsmcd01 wrote:
And why is it Arizona hasn't gone solar?
Because it's more expensive, even in Arizona.
"Hell when change comes, they all take credit." That's one of the most infuriating things about watching the news-- As soon as a positive step is taken towards environmental protection, justice, peace, etc, the politicians start running around looking for microphones. Yet positive change is positive change, and like the Dar says at the close of the song, "Let's let em take the credit"
samrex wrote:
Can you name me an East Coast energy company?
Don't need to, it wasn't my point. My point is marketing and manufacturing are driven by a population bias that's ceased to exist. That my friends and family in New England spend days and weeks on end not seeing sunlight is hardly justification for why solar shouldn't be produced cheaply for those of us who see the sun over 300 days a year. Yet, it is.
Still a cool tune.
Perish wrote:
Dar is wonderful in person too. She played this tiny little club in Nashville (who somehow manages to always get incredible artists) and she moved me to tears. One of my best birthday presents ever.
What's the name of that little club?
Roverfish wrote:
Answer: because all the marketing and manufacturing muscle comes from East-coast biased bastards who don't see daylight their entire lives and don't see a reason to make solar power affordable for people who'd buy it if it didn't cost so much it'd take their entire lives to pay back and who get their electricity a hell of a lot cheaper than the rest of you anyway, thank you.
Maybe that's her point.
Is her name Dar or Jewel, it's hard to tell?
Likeable tune.
Can you name me an East Coast energy company? Try sending your indignation to Houston or Dallas or the K-Street flacks who lobby Congress in DC. BTW Dar is the best.
Dar is wonderful in person too. She played this tiny little club in Nashville (who somehow manages to always get incredible artists) and she moved me to tears. One of my best birthday presents ever.
dsmcd01 wrote:
And why is it Arizona hasn't gone solar?
Answer: because all the marketing and manufacturing muscle comes from East-coast biased bastards who don't see daylight their entire lives and don't see a reason to make solar power affordable for people who'd buy it if it didn't cost so much it'd take their entire lives to pay back and who get their electricity a hell of a lot cheaper than the rest of you anyway, thank you.
Maybe that's her point.
Is her name Dar or Jewel, it's hard to tell?
Likeable tune.
And why is it Arizona hasn't gone solar?
Amen, sister.
Man but I want more music like this in our poor mixed up submerged-under-deep-republican-flood old USA. 
Aaaah. The return of political folk music.
"The five-pointed leaf on the cover of Forbes...." But it was a very interesting and well researched article.
Dar never ceases to amaze! Excellent song, I'd love to hear more from Dar on RP.
I love her idea here. But I think its too optimistic. For instance, when people are presented with a choice between a garbage service with weak recycling and a garbage service with lots of recycling options, the consumer will choose one with the better recycling. Corporate natural selection, either the old service will adapt, or have its food source(customer base) stolen. But more often the consumer will be presented with two or three services with the same recycling option. Yes you can write them a stern letter, but this has little effect, they wont respond until they're threatened. :grumpy.gif:
Ok Dar, try saying THAT and making it sound good.
*looking for a soap box emoticon*
Oh yeah, and its a nice song :P
Whoa! I was just letting everything be background music while I worked and then this soft little song crept up, grabbed my shoulder and said "Hey! Pay Attention!" I started to, though it was a little late in the song to catch the whole drift but I caught some great lines. I look forward to hearing this song again.
gandalfbmg wrote:
OK... so what exactly is she advocating by "playing the greed into their hands" Only spending money on things that are "environmentally good" so that's all that will companies sell if it's all we'll buy? Maybe there's more, but I'm not getting it.
I think she's saying that environmentalists can achieve their goals by cleverly appealing to the greed and vanity of capitalists. The details of how this is to be accomplished are left as an exercise for the listener... :)
I've been a Dar fan for many years and never expected to hear her here, though Paradise is constantly surprising me by playing exactly what I don't expect to hear on the radio :)
Anyway, big Dar fan. Please play more :)
OK... so what exactly is she advocating by "playing the greed into their hands" Only spending money on things that are "environmentally good" so that's all that will companies sell if it's all we'll buy? Maybe there's more, but I'm not getting it.
Intelligent enviornmentalism for a change. that's a nice tune.
:goodvibes.gif:
Nice.
A fresh voice in the often mediocre field of the folkie singer-songwriter.
Hearing this tune on RP made me into an instant Dar Williams fan. Her tunes can rock, be socially conscious, humorous (almost corny) or dark and beautiful.. Very dynamic.. Love it!
Voice made me think of Sheryl Crow for sure . . . on the Sunset Boulevard song . . . but the lyrics are dense and intellectual. In either case, we can use social critics in this realm. Didn\'t care for the moaning refrain, though.
Is today a day for rock with a heavy country and country-blues influence? Theme: Yours To Discover, as they say on Word-a-Day?
The more things change, the more this song rings true
Most excellent, great voice, great lyrics, great songs ... its great!!
Political folk is all good, by me.
And she\'s got a great voice.
More, please!
Sounds way too much like Jewel for my likening.
Hurrah. More Dar please. Intelligent, wry, humourous and engaging.