For.. reasons.. I am making a wealth inequality playlist. I posted an earlier version about 10 hours ago. This is the latest version reflecting everyone's feedback. Remember, I want songs that aren't TOO aggro and could be background-ish at an event, catchy, topical, without making themselves the center of attention. Here's what I have for V2 of the playlist. Please parse this list and suggest along these lines, if you like.
Money itself: the source of, and solution to, all problems
The O’Jays — For the Love of Money
The Flying Lizards — Money (That’s What I Want)
Pet Shop Boys — Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)
ABBA — Money, Money, Money
Pink Floyd — Money
Depeche Mode — Everything Counts
The O’Jays — Rich Get Richer
Billie Holiday — God Bless the Child
Inherited wealth and class
Kareem Rahma & Tiny Gun — Really Rich Parents
Lorde — Royals
Creedence Clearwater Revival — Fortunate Son
Pulp — Common People
Dolly Parton — Coat of Many Colors
Work, wages, and survival
They Might Be Giants — Minimum Wage
Dolly Parton — 9 to 5
Donna Summer — She Works Hard for the Money
Shakira & Fuerza Regida — El Jefe
Rise Against — Prayer of the Refugee
The Clash — Clampdown
Tennessee Ernie Ford — Sixteen Tons
Desmond Dekker & the Aces — Israelites
UB40 — One in Ten
Simply Red — Money’s Too Tight (to Mention)
Travis Tritt — Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man
The Kinks — Dead End Street
Tracy Chapman — Fast Car
Labor history, dispossession, communities stripped of value
The Staple Singers — When Will We Be Paid
B.B. King — Why I Sing the Blues
Skip James — Hard Time Killing Floor Blues
Bruce Springsteen — I Ain’t Got No Home (written by Woody Guthrie)
Bing Crosby — Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Patty Loveless — You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive
Billy Joel — Allentown
James McMurtry — We Can’t Make It Here
Bruce Springsteen — Death to My Hometown
Poverty, inequality, displacement
Stevie Wonder — Living for the City
Marvin Gaye — Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five — The Message
Bruce Hornsby and the Range — The Way It Is
Prince — Sign o’ the Times
The Police — Driven to Tears
Bad Bunny — El Apagón
Bob Marley & the Wailers — Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)
The system, the math, and accountability
Pete Seeger — Banks of Marble
Yasiin Bey / Mos Def — Mathematics
Hozier — Eat Your Young
William Shatner featuring Joe Jackson — Common People (produced and arranged by Ben Folds)
Les McCann & Eddie Harris — Compared to What?
Stevie Wonder — You Haven’t Done Nothin’
Closing: Wake up and fight
Johnny Cash — Man in Black
Tracy Chapman — Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution
William Elliott Whitmore — Mutiny
Bob Marley & the Wailers — Get Up, Stand Up
Walk-out coda — after the formal event has ended
Gil Scott-Heron — Whitey on the Moon
Money itself: the source of, and solution to, all problems
The O’Jays — For the Love of Money
The Flying Lizards — Money (That’s What I Want)
Pet Shop Boys — Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)
ABBA — Money, Money, Money
Pink Floyd — Money
Depeche Mode — Everything Counts
The O’Jays — Rich Get Richer
Billie Holiday — God Bless the Child
Inherited wealth and class
Kareem Rahma & Tiny Gun — Really Rich Parents
Lorde — Royals
Creedence Clearwater Revival — Fortunate Son
Pulp — Common People
Dolly Parton — Coat of Many Colors
Work, wages, and survival
They Might Be Giants — Minimum Wage
Dolly Parton — 9 to 5
Donna Summer — She Works Hard for the Money
Shakira & Fuerza Regida — El Jefe
Rise Against — Prayer of the Refugee
The Clash — Clampdown
Tennessee Ernie Ford — Sixteen Tons
Desmond Dekker & the Aces — Israelites
UB40 — One in Ten
Simply Red — Money’s Too Tight (to Mention)
Travis Tritt — Lord Have Mercy on the Working Man
The Kinks — Dead End Street
Tracy Chapman — Fast Car
Labor history, dispossession, communities stripped of value
The Staple Singers — When Will We Be Paid
B.B. King — Why I Sing the Blues
Skip James — Hard Time Killing Floor Blues
Bruce Springsteen — I Ain’t Got No Home (written by Woody Guthrie)
Bing Crosby — Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Patty Loveless — You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive
Billy Joel — Allentown
James McMurtry — We Can’t Make It Here
Bruce Springsteen — Death to My Hometown
Poverty, inequality, displacement
Stevie Wonder — Living for the City
Marvin Gaye — Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five — The Message
Bruce Hornsby and the Range — The Way It Is
Prince — Sign o’ the Times
The Police — Driven to Tears
Bad Bunny — El Apagón
Bob Marley & the Wailers — Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)
The system, the math, and accountability
Pete Seeger — Banks of Marble
Yasiin Bey / Mos Def — Mathematics
Hozier — Eat Your Young
William Shatner featuring Joe Jackson — Common People (produced and arranged by Ben Folds)
Les McCann & Eddie Harris — Compared to What?
Stevie Wonder — You Haven’t Done Nothin’
Closing: Wake up and fight
Johnny Cash — Man in Black
Tracy Chapman — Talkin’ ’bout a Revolution
William Elliott Whitmore — Mutiny
Bob Marley & the Wailers — Get Up, Stand Up
Walk-out coda — after the formal event has ended
Gil Scott-Heron — Whitey on the Moon
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