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Only In It For the Money

from Roubles and Kopecks by Sam Steffen

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lyrics

I wouldn’t do it as a favor
I wouldn’t do it as a good Samaratin
I wouldn’t do it as your neighbor
I wouldn’t do it as your one and only friend
I wouldn’t do it for my family or my country
because I wanted or needed to—
I’m only in it for the money—
I hate to say it, but it’s true

See the landlord turnin profit
turning out a family from their home
if you ask him why he doesn’t stop it
he’ll tell you go and leave me alone!
They come abused and broken and hungry—
I gave em four walls and a roof
I’m only in it for the money
That’s the sad but awful truth

See the noble prosecutor
Making speeches for the jury sitting-by
Goin on about a shooter
Sayin every killer deserves to die
When he tells it, he tells it bloody
Without so much as one shred of substantial proof
But he’s only in it for the money
Doesn’t care at all about the truth

Here comes your doctor to the rescue
he’s been on call and you know he hasn’t slept
he’s askin if the nurse has prepped you
and what kinds of outcomes you can expect
his hands are trembling as he makes ready
says, “if you don’t make it, this’ll be goodbye
I’m only in it for the money—
Is there any better reason why?”

See the young entrepreneur
He’s invented something no one really needs
it’s somehow come to be quite popular
it’s catching on like wildfire overseas
to make it only costs a penny
the lives of those who buy it all get wrecked
but he’s only in it for the money
never mind the side effects

Hear all them politicians squawkin
Claiming to be the change this country needs
I get fed up with all that talkin
And even more fed up with all their doublecrossin low-down deeds
They say they love you and this country
All they wanna do is keep it free—
But they’re only in it for the money
it’s plain enough to see—

See the preacher in the pulpit
Quoting scripture at the bored-faced Sunday mass
Saying “Give, if you can spare it!
Give all you got and then give that plate a pass—”
He says a prayer and when he’s done he
Says, We worship God above all else!
But ain’t he in it for the money?
Ain’t he just like everybody else?

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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