Six AM, alarm goes off, same as my pops did
But his paycheck bought a house, mine barely covers rent
Forty hours turned to sixty, still ain't making a dent
Groceries cost twice what they did, gas tank on empty again
Used to be a deal: you work hard, you get ahead
Now I work twice as hard, can't even stay in the red
My credit score's a joke, my savings account is dead
And they wonder why we angry, why we tired, why we stressed

Working harder, getting less
Numbers going up but they ain't ours
Working harder, getting less  
Tell me where the money goes
Working harder, getting less
They keep saying it gets better
Working harder, getting less
When?

My mama bought her first house when she turned twenty-nine
I'm thirty-five, still renting, moving every time they raise the line
My father's generation, one job could raise three kids
Now both parents working full-time, still can't pay the bills
They said go to college, get your degree
Now I got the paper and the debt but no security
Same job my pops did pays less in real money
Inflation's going up but wages staying funny
Productivity is rising, that's what the charts all say
So where's my piece? Where's my raise? Where's my pay?

Working harder, getting less
Numbers going up but they ain't ours
Working harder, getting less
Tell me where the money goes
Working harder, getting less
They keep saying it gets better
Working harder, getting less
When? When? When?

Let me break it down, see where the money went
CEO makes 400 times what I pay in rent
Stock buybacks in the billions while we counting every cent
Profit margins record high, my bank account is spent
They said the system's working, just gotta play your part
But the game is rigged from the very start
Can't save, can't invest, can't get ahead
Just working till I'm broken, working till I'm dead
And I ain't the only one, this ain't just my story
Millions of us grinding while they swimming in the glory
Something's gotta give, something's gotta change
'Cause working harder, getting less ain't a sustainable game

Working harder, getting less
Numbers going up but they ain't ours
Working harder, getting less
Tell me where the money goes
Working harder, getting less
Productivity is rising
Working harder, getting less
Where's mine? Where's mine? Where's mine?

Working harder...
Getting less...
When does it change?

WORKING HARDER

This is a collection of my ideas articulated by AI. Workflow: all music by Riffusion/Producer.ai. Most lyrics ChatGPT various versions.

Besides these songs there is a thinking/science project I started early 2025. I have been documenting this project online: https://github.com/albertjanvanhoek/Evolution-by-Emergence 

### License
These tracks (both music and lyrics) are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

🆓 You are free to:
• Copy & distribute  
• Remix & adapt  
• Use the track in commercial and non-commercial projects  

📋 Conditions of use:
1. Give proper credit:  
   “Song Title – Emergence – https://soundcloud.com/emergence-223803727/<relevent link> – CC BY 4.0”
2. Add a link to the license text: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
3. State whether you made any changes.  
4. Do not imply that I endorse your work.

Enjoy!

WORKING HARDER

Emergence 🐠