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My Living Wage Is Killin Me

from Roubles and Kopecks by Sam Steffen

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lyrics

I left my home a young man, sights set on the city
Aimed to take the first job I could do
Got hired on the nightshift, paid to drive a forklift
Had to learn to sleep the whole day through

I met a sweet old lady who owned a small apartment
Said I could live with her, didn’t that sound great?
But I didn’t live there cheaply, had to pay bi-weekly
And she charged me every hour I was late

Neath the risin cost of livin in a world that never pays
You can get by for a while takin what comes free
But its trine to make a livin on a no good livin wage
That’s the only thing that’s killing me

I don’t mind the lack of benefits, the late-long working hours
Or that they ask me to do overtime each week
Ain’t like I got a family, or time enough to start one
Or any living friend of which to speak

but the thing that really gets me, that frustrates and upsets me
is that I ain’t managed to save even a cent
cause what don’t go to gas, electric, garbage, fuel, and food
just goes to payin off my rent

chorus

I’ve heard some folks die of drowning, others of poisoning, electrocution
some die madly fleeing death’s persistent call
some die because they’re stranded, heartbroken and abandoned,
others die for no good reason at all

people die of falling objects, parachutes that didn’t open
some are murdered, some just die of old age
but if I live to be 99 I’ll still die of simply trine
to live on nothing but my living wage

chorus

credits

from Roubles and Kopecks, released September 14, 2020

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Sam Steffen Boise, Idaho

Sam Steffen is a Pennsylvania-bred, Boise-based singer-songwriter whose songs are the torch-wood for a new generation of folk music that has learned from the best stuff in the tradition and aims in spite of everything to keep the human spirit alive and kicking. A versatile musician and skilled finger-picker, Sam is at heart a story-teller, and a prolific one. ... more

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