A Living Wage Songtext

von Ron Kavana

Sally is eleven, goes to St. Clements
Back of the railway tracks
With assorted refugees from DSS, B and B's
At the school gate they sell crack
Here they steal her thunder, crucify her wonder
Can she get out alive and grovel gratefully
On the eternal 9 to 5

A living wage is all that we demand
From a government sworn to uphold that cause
Not betrayal of precious right, bought with precious lives
In the course of two World Wars

Now Sally is sixteen sits in history class
Reading what Churchill said
About a living wage for all the poorly paid
The basis of our welfare state
But her friend Sue left school last year
For a job in a shoe shop
Now she's back home, signing on the dole
The pay weren't worth a crap
In the ivory tower high on the hill
Far from the street and trash
Sit the privileged few, our future rulers
Learning bought with cash
In the afternoon doom of her classroom
Sally's waiting for the bell
She carves a desperate plea on her desktop
Get me out of this frigging hell

A living wage is all that we demand
From a government sworn to uphold that cause
Not betrayal of precious right, bought with precious lives
In the course of two World Wars