Money: What is the

role of money in our

everyday lives?
Asha Baron, Fiona Conway, Andrew Gelman,
Andrej Radoja, Simran Thakkar
 Fiona

Money, Money, Money by Abba

Lyrics: Analysis:
“I work all night, I work all day, to pay the bills I have to This song talks about how one’s perspective on money
pay differs depending on one’s social class. The singer of the
Ain't it sad song describes having to work often and hard, and still not
And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me having enough money to live on. This is a reality for many
That's too bad people in America who often work multiple jobs and are still
In my dreams I have a plan struggling to get by. The song then talks about wanting to go
If I got me a wealthy man to a casino in order to win money. This represents how lack
I wouldn't have to work at all, I'd fool around and have a of money can be such a burden that it creates wild fantasies,
ball such as winning a fortune by gambling, that often don’t play
Money, money, money out. In comparison, the song describes how a rich person’s
Must be funny world is “always sunny” and how they don’t have to work.
In the rich man's world This shows how often the rich take for granted the
Money, money, money opportunities and comfort that money brings them. In
Always sunny conclusion, money plays a different role for the poor, who
In the rich man's world” often are unfairly working hard and reap no rewards,
compared to the rich who can be oblivious to the privilege
they have in not having to worry about money.

You Never Give Me Your Money by The
Beatles
Lyrics:
“You never give me your money
You only give me your funny paper
And in the middle of negotiations
You break down
I never give you my number
I only give you my situation
And in the middle of investigation
I break down
Out of college, money spent
See no future, pay no rent
All the money's gone, nowhere to go”
Fiona
Analysis:
This song express the lack of opportunities by those who
don’t have enough money to live on. The song talks
about coming out of college and not having anywhere to
go because they don’t have any money. This is a similar
situation for many people in this country today as the
student debt crisis mounts. The beginning of the song
also talks about the confusion when dealing with money
finances. The Beatles wrote this after their manager died
and they handled finances on their own. This shows how
it isn’t always as simple as having money versus not
having money, one also has to learn how to manage
his/her money.

C.R.E.A.M. by Wu-Tang Clan
Lyrics
“I grew up on the crime side, the New
York Times side Stayin' alive was no jive
Had
secondhands, Mom's bounced on old man
So then we
moved to Shaolin land”
[Chorus]
“Cash rules everything around me
CREAM, get the money Dollar dollar bill,
y'all Cash rules everything around me
CREAM, get the money Dollar
dollar bill, y'all”
Andrej
Analysis
The first verse, rapped by Raekwon, is communicating to the
audience that he grew up in a very impoverished area of New
York and that he and his mom really had to struggle to survive,
especially when his father left the picture. Rae describes only
owning second-hand clothing and his family’s financial
situation getting so desperate that him and his mom had to
move to “shaolin land,” which is Staten Island. Later on in the
song, Rae describes joining a clique when he was sixteen in
order to sell drugs and finally start making real money.
Although not ideal and quite dangerous as Rae mentions,
putting his own life at risk, he was fed up with never having
money and caved in to the brutal reality of making a quick
profit. As the chorus illustrates, and proves the point of the
entire song, cash controls everyone and the pursuit of earning
money is eternal, no matter how much one makes, and is quite
possibly the most important thing in the world for many
people, as many people put their lives and freedoms on the line
to make money. The Wu-Tang Clan is describing their
unfortunate yet real financially-driven lifestyle, consuming
them and blinding them from their family and emotions.
Money is number one and making it is addictive, especially if
you never had any while growing up.
 Andrej

Find Ya Wealth by Nas

Analysis In
this song, Nas is saying that one can easily make money and be
Lyrics financially prosperous if they self-reflect and discover their
true potential and do what they’re best at, in his case it was
[Hook] rapping. He’s saying once one “makes it,” they need to live it
up to the fullest because the doubters and haters will never be
“Look way deep inside yourself Discover on their level of success. Nas then makes a religious reference
the diamond inside, find ya wealth Once you get it, and says that God brings those from the bottom, highly
you gotta live it the limit [redacted] never wanna impoverished, to the top with enough dedication, perseverance,
see you with it, F*** THEM THO' and faith. Although Nas thanks God and looked onto him
[redacted] can't come close enough during tough times, he believes that the one true way to “Find
to touch the dough Ya Wealth” is by grinding on your own. Unlike C.R.E.A.M.,
The lifestyle I live is untouchable”
this song highlights the positive aspects of money and how it
can bring one to a better mental and physical state, as money
[Verses 1 and 2] can inspire one to chase their dreams and can save lives. On a
more harsh, pessimistic note, Nas says that there are really only
“God guides us, from public assistance to high rises a few ways to “come out the hood,” or escape impoverishment.
Condos, houses where y'all can't find us… Intentionally exaggerated, Nas gives the raw truth by saying
death, incarceration, professional basketball, or rapping are the
Different ways to come out the hood - in cuffs or a casket only methods of coming to wealth from poverty. Although
Or crazy, untrue, Nas states this in order to emphasize his point that it is
or shootin’ three pointer baskets Or maybe - it's extremely difficult for one to make it out of inherited poverty
the rap sh*t, all type of tactics” in America.
 Andrew

Money by Pink Floyd

Lyrics:
"Money, get back Analysis:
I'm all right Jack keep your hands off of my stack The lyrics of this song are quite cynical. The band
Money, it's a hit expresses a feeling that many people in the middle and
Don't give me that do goody good bullshit lower classes feel, which is that Money makes everyone
I'm in the high-fidelity first class traveling set
selfish and overbearing. For a song published 47 years
And I think I need a Lear jet
ago, the points made are quite topical. Whether the US
Money, it's a crime should have higher tax rates for the wealthy has been a
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie big political issue. Major companies like Amazon don't
Money, so they say pay any taxes despite making billions of dollars. Pink
Is the root of all evil today Floyd somewhat predicted that with the really interesting
But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise that they're line "Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie"
Giving none away, away, away"
 Andrew

Money Trees by Kendrick Lamar

Lyrics:
It go Halle Berry or hallelujah
Pick your poison, tell me what you doin' Analysis:
Everybody gon' respect the shooter
Kendrick Lamar is a very emphatic and outspoken artist,
But the one in front of the gun lives forever
(The one in front of the gun, forever) and this song is no exception. In this song, Lamar speaks
And I been hustlin' all day out on the high poverty and the economic discrimination
This-a-way, that-a-way in majority black cities and neighborhoods. He's telling
Through canals and alleyways, just to say the story of growing up in his hometown of Compton,
Money trees is the perfect place for shade
CA. He shares the goal that many black and brown kids
And that's just how I feel
strive to achieve: being rich and not having to worry.
Nah, nah This is the idea of sitting in the shade of the money tree.
A dollar might just fuck your main bitch The end goal of not having to
That's just how I feel, nah worry about financial security is one that
A dollar might say fuck them n****s that you came with
That's just how I feel, nah, nah
people of color have to work much harder to attain.
A dollar might just make that lane switch
That's just how I feel, nah
A dollar might turn to a million and we all rich
That's just how I feel
 Simran

Take the Money and Run by

The Steve Miller Band
Lyrics:
This is a story about Billy Joe and Bobbie Sue Two
young lovers with nothin' better to do Than sit around Analysis:
the house, get high, and watch the tube In each of their songs, The Steve Miller Band
And here is what happened when they decided to cut loose tells a story. Most aren’t as clear as a story as
They headed down this song, but all of the songs do. This song tells
to, ooh, old El Paso That's where they ran into a of the story of the these two young lovers who
great big hassle Billy Joe shot a man while robbing his go off and steal X amount of money. They go
castle Bobbie Sue took the money and run
on the run to escape the clutches of Billy Mack.
Hoo-hoo-hoo, go on, take the money and run Go on, This song doesn’t as clearly answer the core
take the money and run Hoo-hoo-hoo, go on, take question as the other songs, but it shows the
the money and run Go on, take the money and run lengths that people will go to get money. Billy
Hoo-hoo-hoo, Billy Mack is a detective down in Texas You Joe would shoot someone just to gain more
know he knows just exactly what the facts is money. Though most people wouldn’t go as far
He ain't gonna let those two escape justice as that to get more money in real life, people
He makes his livin' off of the people's taxes will do as much as they can to just gain a few
Bobbie Sue, whoa, whoa, she slipped away more dollars, even if that leads to stint in jail.
Billy Joe caught up to her the very next day

Moneytalks by AC/DC
Lyrics:
Tailored suits, chauffeured cars
hotels and big cigars
Up for grabs, all for a price
Where the red hot girls keep on dancing through the night
The claim is on you, the sights are on me
So what do you do that's guaranteed?
Hey little girl, you want it all
The furs, the diamonds
The paintings on the wall
Come on, come on, lovin' for the money
Come on, come on, listen to the money talk
Come on, come on, lovin' for the money
Come on, come on, listen to the money talk
A French maid, foreign chef
A big house, with king-size beds
You had enough, you ship them out
The dollar's up, down, you better buy the Pound
Simran
Fine
Analysis:
Though on the surface, this song shows that the band is
obsessed with all these things that the rich have the
money. In reality, this song is about how the band doesn’t
believe in flaunting their money. They don’t want to use
their money to buy all of these little things. They don’t
want money to dictate how they live their lives, which is
something that everyone should follow. People should
live their lives based on what they need, rather than what
they want. Rich celebrities don’t need material stuff, but
they get them anyways. One of the lyrics says “You had
enough” which just shows that the band doesn’t believe
in spending all their money on random stuff that they
don’t need.
 Asha

For The Love of Money by The O’Jays

Analysis:
Lyrics:

For the love of money People This song talks about the evils of money and the bad
will steal from their mother things people will do to for money. At the time the
For the love of money song was written, the songwriters Gamble and Huff
People will rob their own brother
were riding a wave of success. The song describes
For the love of money the evils of greed and the extreme lengths people
People can't even walk the street will go to to keep getting more money. People will
Because they never know who in the world they're gonna
steal and rob for money. People will hurt others for
beat For that
lean, mean, mean green Almighty money. One of the most powerful lyrics is “For a
dollar, money small piece of paper it carries a lot of weight.”
For the love of money For something so small, money can drive
People will lie, Lord, they will cheat people to do crazy things without stopping to
For the love of money think about the consequences.
People don't care who they hurt or beat
 Asha

Money (That’s What I Want) by Barrett

Strong
Lyrics: The
best things in life are free, but you can give them to the
birds and bees I need Analysis:
money That's
what I want (That's This song is very simple and straightforward. Strong
what I want. That's what I want) That's what talks about how money is what he wants and how it
I want, that's what I want (That's what I is the most important thing to him. The song
want. That's what I want) Your love gives
presents money as an item that is worth much more
me such a thrill, but your love don't pay my bills
I need money than emotions with the lyric “Your love gives me
That's what I want such a thrill, but your love don't pay my bills”.
(That's what I want. That's Although this song is very straightforward, it
what I want) That's what I want, that's represents the way many Americans feel about
what I want (That's what I want. That's money. If you’re not careful, you can let your desire
what I want) Money don't get everything, it's for money replace other emotions.
true, but what it don't get I can't use
I need money