Class War Has Another Theme Song: They're Shuttin' Detroit Down

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

Word and music by John Rich. (Lyrics after the jump) The same singer-songwriter who delighted crowds with the deliciously, unintentionally ironic Raisin’ McCain. You know, for background.

My daddy taught me in this country everyone’s the same.
You work hard for your dollar and you never pass the blame,
When it don’t go your way.
Now I see all these big shots whining on my evening news,
About how they’re losing billions and it’s up to me and you
To come running to the rescue.

Well pardon me if I don’t shed a tear.
There selling make believe and we don’t buy that here.

Because in the real world they’re shuttin’ Detroit down,
While the boss man takes his bonus paid jets on out of town.
DC’s bailing out them bankers at the farmers’ auction ground.
Yeah while they’re living up on Wall Street in that New York City town,
Here in the real world they’re shuttin’ Detroit down.
Here in the real world they’re shuttin’ Detroit down.

Well that old man’s been working in that plant most all his life,
Now his pension plan’s been cut in half and he can’t afford to die
And it’s a crying shame, cus he ain’t the one to blame.
When I looked down to see his calloused hands,
Well let me tell you, friend, it gets me fightin’ mad.

Cause in the real world they’re shuttin’ Detroit down,
While the boss man takes his bonus paid jets on out of town.
DC’s bailing out them bankers at the farmers’ auction ground.
Yeah while they’re living up on Wall Street in that New York City town,
Here in the real world they’re shuttin’ Detroit down.

Yeah while they’re living up on Wall Street in that New York City town,
Here in the real world they’re shuttin’ Detroit down.
Here in the real world they’re shuttin’ Detroit down,
In the real world they’re shuttin’ Detroit down.
They’re shuttin’ Detroit down.

[thanks to Brett Solomon for the link]


Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Brett Solomon Brett Solomon on Feb 16, 2009

    Jeff: I snagged the lyrics from a website because I lacked the patience to transpose them directly from the tune. However, I doubt Mr. Rich is using Chigago Rules of Style while writing, and for all I know could be how he intended it! At first, I thought it was a typical uber-patriotic country ditty. However, as the replies above demonstrate, there are a few 'layers' of this song that are worth debating. Yee-Haw.

  • Jeff Puthuff Jeff Puthuff on Feb 17, 2009

    Brett: No problem. I've seen a few of those lyrics sites and I'm fairly confident whoever transcribed this song made the errors. I didn't change the style, just those damn words.

  • Tassos Jong-iL Not all martyrs see divinity, but at least you tried.
  • ChristianWimmer My girlfriend has a BMW i3S. She has no garage. Her car parks on the street in front of her apartment throughout the year. The closest charging station in her neighborhood is about 1 kilometer away. She has no EV-charging at work.When her charge is low and she’s on the way home, she will visit that closest 1 km away charger (which can charge two cars) , park her car there (if it’s not occupied) and then she has two hours time to charge her car before she is by law required to move. After hooking up her car to the charger, she has to walk that 1 km home and go back in 2 hours. It’s not practical for sure and she does find it annoying.Her daily trip to work is about 8 km. The 225 km range of her BMW i3S will last her for a week or two and that’s fine for her. I would never be able to handle this “stress”. I prefer pulling up to a gas station, spend barely 2 minutes filling up my small 53 liter fuel tank, pay for the gas and then manage almost 720 km range in my 25-35% thermal efficient internal combustion engine vehicle.
  • Tassos Jong-iL Here in North Korea we are lucky to have any tires.
  • Drnoose Tim, perhaps you should prepare for a conversation like that BEFORE you go on. The reality is, range and charging is everything, and you know that. Better luck next time!
  • Buickman burn that oil!
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