I could have called this song “Godzilla,” but there’s already a pretty good song by that name:

The monsters that menace us today are the great multinational corporations. We created them and gave them legal personhood, but they are much more powerful than human beings. A corporation like Monsanto or Exxon controls vast resources, lives in many countries at once, never sleeps and never dies. It has a vast brain, but no heart, and it is ruthless in its pursuit of the only thing it cares about – profit. The people who work for a corporation may not want to destroy a rainforest or make bombs or level mountaintops for coal or crowd garment workers into unsafe buildings, but the corporation will do whatever is necessary to make money. And governments are pretty much run by the big corporations, especially in the United States, so you rarely see any government action restricting corporate power.

I’m not really that into fighting against the corporate world. I prefer to focus on living the way I want to live. I believe that we are creating an alternate economy that will eventually prevail, a people-centered economy based on local transactions, where money plays less of a role. We will live more simply, spend more of our time enjoying life and taking care of each other. The big corporations will eventually fade away. But for some reason, I was moved to write this song. What do you think? Does it get annoying when I keep repeating “I’m a corporation” over and over?

Here’s the song on Bandcamp:

http://scottlape.bandcamp.com/track/corporation

And here are the chords and lyrics:

Corporation

They say I’m a person, I’ve got a superhuman brain         Am    Dm
But I don’t have a heart, don’t feel any pain                       E7     Am
They say I’m a person, but I never sleep                            Am    Dm
And if you suffer, I sure won’t weep                                    E7      Am

I’m big, I’m mean, I’m a money machine                             F       G
I fill the air with lies, I don’t care who dies                           Am     F     G
‘Cause I’m a corporation                                                          Am

They say I’m a person, but I’m bigger than you
If you’re in my way, I’ll crush you too
They say I’m a person, but I’ll never die
I’ll keep on growing, ‘til I bleed you dry

I’m big, I’m mean, I’m a money machine                             F       G
I fill the air with lies, I don’t care who dies                           Am     F     G
‘Cause I’m a corporation, I’m living large                            Am     F
I’m a corporation, and I’m in charge                                    G       Am
I’m a corporation, the public enemy                                   Am       F
I’m a corporation, watch out for me                                     G       Am

I patent the weeds, you gotta pay to grow ‘em
I patent the seeds, you gotta pay to sow’em
I own the water, the sky and the land
I own you too, don’t you understand

I’m big, I’m mean, I’m a money machine
I fill the air with smoke, I don’t care who chokes
‘Cause I’m a corporation                                     Am
I’m a corporation                                                  F
I’m a corporation                                                  G
I’m a corporation                                                  Am
I’m a corporation                                                  Am
I’m a corporation                                                   F
I’m a corporation                                                   G
I’m a corporation                                                   Am

If I had a heart, I might be afraid
‘Cause if the people want, I could be unmade
If I had legs, I might try to run
‘Cause if the people choose, I could be undone