Fair Pay Fair Play Blues

Fair Pay Fair Play Blues
by Tom Chapin & Phil Galdston
© The Last Music Co. & Kazzoom Music (ASCAP)

Not long ago I made a go
Of writing songs for you
Sold cassettes, LPs, CDs
Got paid for what I do
Times have changed, re-arranged
I know that bird has flown
But, come on, they gotta pay us
When they play the songs we own

When words and music turned to data
A squiggle on your screen
Bits and bytes on our devices
Who could have foreseen?
The songs I wrote, the songs you wrote,
Our private property
Pandora-ed, YouTubed, Spotified
And they say they're helping me!

They take our words, take our music
Give us back chump change
Pick our pockets, take the profits
What a losing game
Now, I'm a creator not a corp'rate raider
So here's what I wanna see
Pay and play the right way
The way it's s'posed to be
I got the fair pay, fair play blues
They take our tunes
And we don't get to choose
When the Big Boys win, creators lose
And, man, that's bad news
Got the fair pay, fair play blues

My friend Maria made a great CD
It cost every dime she had
It took all her talent, time, and tears
So she was hopping mad
When she found it streaming
She started screaming
“Who's gonna buy what's free?”
We're all watching YouTube
Pull a high-tech robbery
She's got the fair pay, fair play blues
They take her tunes
And she don't get to choose
When Google wins, creators lose
And, man, that's bad news
I got the fair pay, fair play blues

I ain't no Springsteen, Taylor Swift,
I sure ain't Beyoncé
But I used to make a living making music
Now there's just no way

I know it ain't no crime to stream online
It seems like a real good deal
But you should beware when you listen there
You're just helping them steal
So the next time you hear someone say, “Music should be free”
You tell them it's wrong to use my song
If they're not paying me!
We got the fair pay, fair play blues
Just imagine walkin' in our shoes
Because no one wins if creators lose
It's time to face the music
We got the fair pay, fair play,
Give us our fair share, hey,
We got the fair pay, fair play blues

This song appears on Tom Chapin's Threads CD.

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