Lyrics

My Grandpa and Grandma came up from Alabama
For a GM job in Pontiac
Bought an itty-bitty house on a skinny city lot
And dug a big ol’ garden out back
Grew most everything they needed and saved all the seeds
And dried whatever they couldn’t can
And Grandma sewed nearly all their clothes
Outta stuff from the Sally Ann

Never bought it new if they could find it used
Or scavenge it for free
And whatever they had left over
They’d give to folks in need
Grandma made money baking fancy cakes
For people on the other side of town
Grandpa bought an old car and an older one for parts
And fixed it every time it broke down

And lard was their all-purpose seasoning
For the gravy and the biscuits, grits and okra and turnip greens
Only work they knew was hard, only times they knew were tough
They never had a lot, but they always had enough

Well the years went by, my grandfolks died
And so much of what they knew got lost
And everything now seems built to break down
And fixing it’s twice the cost
And if you got a new car, you won’t get far
Trying to be a trouble-shooter
Just take a trip to the stealership
And hook it up to a computer

Whose dreams are these anyway?
Are we consumers or consumed?
Why do we decorate our houses
To look like hotel rooms?
Hard as I try, I can’t figure why
Folks admire obscene extravagance
Like Musk and Bezos, Trump and Gates
Kanye and the Kardashians

It’s all about the game, according to the winners
And they got everything you want in warehouses
Called Fulfillment Centers
It’s like there’s some kinda hole we’re tryin’ to fill with all this stuff
We always have a lot, but we never have enough

I heard about a man in a faraway land
Who made respectable folks aghast
Steadily gatherin’ an entourage of fishermen
Prostitutes and outcasts
Near as they could figure it, he was illegitimate
They say he was born in a stable
They say he made wine outta water one time
And knocked over some bankers’ tables

But it was like daring the authorities
And clergy to do their worst
When he said the first would be last
And the last would be first
Don’t give like the hypocrites who make a big show of it
While they’re always gathering more
And if you wanna see heaven, sell your possessions
And give what you got to the poor

And if you try to save your life, you’ll surely lose it
He said the kingdom is inside you if you choose it
He and a dozen good buddies
Wandering around, sleeping rough
They never had a lot, but they always had enough
They never had a lot, but they always had enough