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

by Robert Farago

February 16th, 2009 6:22 PM

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]

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2 of 37 comments

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.

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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.

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