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THE SYSTEM DON’T ADD UP lyrics
Artist-supplied lyric sheet, matched by title. The sheet may differ from this released performance. Production notes and alternate promotional cuts are omitted.
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Intro
Clock in, lights buzz, rent due again (10) Numbers don’t match how the work gets spent (10) Politicians paid while they stack up more (12) We grind every shift but the math stay sore (12)
Verse 1
Four hundred K for the President, stuck since ‘01 (14) VP at two-eighty-four, still claimin’ the job ain’t fun (14) Congress sittin’ comfy at one-seventy-four a year (14) Leadership pockets climb higher but they call it fair (12) Half of them millionaires, middle net worth near a M (12) But we start with nothin’, try to climb, system shuts the stem (14) They write laws, buy stocks, claim no insider tracks (12) We mop floors, serve tables, still breakin’ our backs (12)
Pre-chorus
We see how they rise while we barely stay afloat (12) Whole different math when you’re sittin’ on the vote (12)
Chorus
The system don’t add up, numbers don’t lie (10) Work all day, still barely get by (10) Millions for them off salaries low (10) But we grind forever with nothin’ to show (10)
Verse 2
Fast-food worker thirty K, grease burn on the skin (12) Grocery clerks stock shelves for thirty-two, still can’t win (14) Bank tellers push thirty-nine, count money they’ll never keep (14) Servers runnin’ tables for tips while the debt runs deep (12) Retail at thirty-four, janitors sittin’ at thirty-five (14) Cashier at twenty-nine, still hustlin’ just to survive (12) They say work harder, but the gap don’t close (10) Politicians climb ladders while our struggle shows (12)
Bridge
If we got their ratio, five hundred fifty-six times pay (14) Fast-food would hit sixteen mil, wild in every way (12) Clerks near eighteen mil, servers twenty by night (12) Cashiers sixteen mil, tell me how that sound right (12)
Verse 3
They get perks, pensions, book deals, plane seats first (12) We get bills, overtime cuts, and the shift that hurts (12) They leave office rich off speeches and a lobbyist chain (14) We leave work sore, underpaid, walk home in the rain (12) If everyday workers leveled up like they do (12) We’d all be millionaires, imagine that view (12) This game built crooked, but voices still rise (12) Change starts small but it opens real eyes (12)
Chorus
The system don’t add up, numbers don’t lie Work all day, still barely get by Millions for them off salaries low But we grind forever with nothin’ to show
Bridge
Their wealth grows quiet, ours grows slow (10) But truth hit heavy when the facts all show (10) We see the cracks where the power leaks (10) We speak loud now ’cause the system’s weak (10)
Chorus
The system don’t add up, numbers don’t lie Work all day, still barely get by Millions for them off salaries low But we grind forever with nothin’ to show
Outro
Truth in the numbers, look close, you’ll see (10) Quiet math exposes the real story (10) We rise when we know what’s hid underneath (12) Knowledge is power, that’s the key we keep (12)
Inside the recording
Clock in, lights buzz, rent due again (10) Numbers don’t match how the work gets spent (10)
We see how they rise while we barely stay afloat (12) Whole different math when you’re sittin’ on the vote (12)
Truth in the numbers, look close, you’ll see (10) Quiet math exposes the real story (10)
Excerpts from artist-supplied lyric files matched by title. Lyric sheets may differ from the released performance.