Muscle for the Money

Crimes been down for over 30 years
But that’s not what the cops are doing here
Bloomberg said the City’s a luxury commodity
Bet your bottom dollar he’s trying to make it be

So the cops are running my town, my town, my town
The cops are running my town it’s a goddamn tragedy

They killed a man for selling cigarettes
They arrest a man for playing his guitar
They arrested Jojo off the corner for collecting cans
They arrest the kids for just being kids

Cuz the cops are running our town, its our town, our town
The cops are running our town see em everywhere we go

on the street, on the beat, in the station, on the train, 
they’re on the bridge, on the block, getting inside your brain

Climate scientists say there’s no turning back and
Cities are kind of like that cuz
Once we lose them we can’t get them back and 
Once the people leave, the people leave

You came here from the burbs now the burbs follow you in
Its 7-11, Pizza Hut, IHOP
You grew up watching TV of New York City all your life
You tell me now, it’s the only place you could ever be

So the cops are running your town, its your town, your town
The cops are running your town trying to make you feel alright

Her baby wears a Brooklyn onesie, she reps Crown Heights
There’s Starbucks on the corner and suits getting off the train at night
New York Times celebrates every Brooklyn brownstone
Sold for a million bucks to a couple from out of town

And the cops are running their town, its their town, their town
The cops are running their town just a muscle for the money

Pass by a bus stop there’s an ad behind the glass
It says “Welcome to New York, the City’s been waiting for you”
Signed by Taylor Swift, hash tag such and so
Apparently we’ve been waiting, we just didn’t know

Now the cops are running this town, it’s her town, their town
The cops are running this town, til they can’t afford to live here anymore.

Links for issues raised  in this song:

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/8/25/i_can_t_breathe_nyc_march

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/nypd-assault-arrest-subway-musician-reading-broke-law/#hxR2bMGTmIdHbT7u.99

http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140611/crown-heights/starbucks-open-first-crown-heights-location-this-fall

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2014/10/welcome_to_new_york_is_literally_a_tourism_campaign_disguised_as_a_single.php

http://www.nyclu.org/news/first-full-year-of-nypd-data-shows-black-students-disproportionately-arrested-school

Organizations working on police brutality/ over-policing issues in NYC:
www.peoplesjustice.org
www.changethenypd.org


Muscle For The Money

Song inspired by the resistance movement in Ferguson and everywhere else. 

jo steele