Slaves
Life's Debt: A Poignant Reflection on Struggle and Consumption
Lyrics
We know not love
We lack understanding of love.
Nor compassion
We lack empathy.
But endless cycles of distraction
We are trapped in repetitive distractions.
The banality and misery
Everyday life is mundane and sorrowful.
A consequence
It is a result of the struggle for survival.
Of the battle waged for subsistence
We are brought down by overwhelming financial obligations.
Brought low by crushing debt
We are burdened by crippling debts.
The price we pay to ease the pain
We pay a high price to numb our pain.
As we fight to make it through the days
We strive to endure the challenges of each day.
Our teeth that rot for fear of bills we cannot pay
Our dental health deteriorates due to fear of unpaid bills.
When every day is hell in our lives
Every day feels like a living hell.
A hell of television
Our lives are dominated by television.
And malnutrition
We suffer from malnutrition.
A hell mired in the most frivolous excess
We are immersed in excessive and meaningless pursuits.
So stupid
Our actions seem foolish.
We find solace in the shallow satisfaction
We seek comfort in superficial satisfaction.
Of material goods
Material possessions provide temporary relief.
The opiate that is consumption
Consumerism acts as a numbing agent.
To blanket the emptiness that is our lives
We use consumption to fill the emptiness in our lives.
I'd rather be dead
Death seems preferable to this half-lived existence.
Than live this half life
Living with the burdens of debt and damage is unbearable.
This half life of debt and detriment
This life is one of perpetual indebtedness and harm.
This fifty year obligation
A 50-year commitment to chasing promised rewards.
Chasing the promised rewards
Pursuing the benefits of hard work without reaching them.
Of hard work
We contribute to the wealth of others without progress.
And getting nowhere
Endless toil leads to no advancement.
Always feeding the wealth
We constantly enrich others at our own expense.
Of someone else
We break under the weight of monthly financial commitments.
Always breaking under the mass
We face limited choices and the harsh demands of necessity.
Of monthly payments
We work and survive but fail to truly live.
Facing the thinning of choices
We sacrifice our bodies for survival.
And the cold demands of necessity
We trade our best years for the promise of retirement.
We work and survive
Retirement comes with robbed savings, benefiting the rich.
But never really live
We suffer from aging bodies and limited means.
We break our bodies and
We are burdened by the maintenance of our deteriorating bodies.
Sell off our best years
The cost of maintaining our bodies is beyond our financial capacity.
To look forward to retiring with
We express frustration at the exploitation of our hard-earned money.
Our savings robbed and feeding the rich
We are constrained by aging and worn-out physical conditions.
Hobbled by our creaking limbs and worn out joints
The upkeep of our bodies is unaffordable.
The maintenance of our aging bodies
We face the financial burden of maintaining our aging bodies.
Priced outside our means
The costs of maintaining our bodies exceed our financial means.
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