Items20The creator’s order
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Money, Money, MoneyFrida sings from inside a budget that never quite balances. Marrying rich and trying her luck at the tables become two versions of the same escape fantasy. The piano introduces her predicament like the opening of a cabaret act, and the chorus gives her a brief chance to live in the picture she is…0 - 2
Cash in Your FaceSomeone has enough to pay for a place to live and still cannot get through the door. Wonder lets the excuses build around a buoyant arrangement, giving the refusal the familiarity of something the applicant has heard before. The cash matters most because its ordinary promise of access fails under…0 - 3
Money (That's What I Want)Strong allows that the best things in life can be free, then brings the discussion back to paying bills. The recurring piano figure and the voices answering him make that practical objection sound like a shared demand. Listen to the original Tamla performance for the way the piano keeps pressing…0 - 4
If We Make It Through DecemberA factory layoff means a father cannot give his daughter the Christmas he had hoped for. Haggard lets the man think ahead to a warmer place and a better summer, while the plain details keep bringing the story back to the bills and weather he has to get through first.0 - 5
Bills, Bills, BillsThe singer's complaints are specific enough to itemize. A partner borrows the car and runs up the phone bill, leaving her to make good on both. The clipped exchange between lead and group vocals turns the chorus into an audit of what each person brings to the relationship.0 - 6
How Much A Dollar CostA man asks Lamar's narrator for money, and the narrator spends much of the song defending his decision to refuse. The request is small enough to make those defenses conspicuous. The last verse changes the terms of the encounter, so a sum that seemed trivial becomes a measure of his attention and…0 - 7
Ain't Nothin' Goin' on but the RentGuthrie sets out her terms for a relationship against a dance groove that stays light on its feet. Rent is the recurring reminder that somebody has to keep the household going. Her insistence on a partner with a job sounds playful and hardheaded at the same time.0 - 8
Rich GirlThe singer addresses someone who can keep leaning on family money and wants her to see how that has changed her dealings with other people. The soft opening and bright group responses give the rebuke an easy welcome. It takes a moment for the accusation about inherited wealth to sink in.0 - 9
Authority Stealing (Parts 1 & 2)Fela contrasts the amount an armed robber can carry off with the vastly greater sum someone in office can take by signing a document. The band holds a long, steady groove while he returns to the comparison. You get time to hear how much of the difference comes from what their positions allow them…0 - 10
Mercedes BenzJoplin asks for a luxury car and a color television in the voice of someone putting in a serious request. The car would also help her keep up with friends who already drive Porsches. With only her voice, the pauses and changes in emphasis let the prayer work as both a joke and a glimpse of what the…0
