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Tales from Earth Incorporated

by Dan Sheehan

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1.
"Riding Low" sets the stage for Tales From Earth, Inc. with its look into the minds of those who get caught up in money, money, and more money, at any cost to anyone but themselves. The "evil boss" appears during the song's bridge. Gotta keep up with the Joneses, gotta keep up with the Smiths Gotta keep up with Ramirez and that Summer home of his Gotta buy the biggest TV, finish the basement for the kids Gotta buy a brand new sports car, impress the folks over at the biz Riding low and flying high! Accumulate until I die! Gotta keep up with the Dow Jones, build up that portfolio Get into big oil, diamond mines and Polly-o Invest in weapons manufacturing and anything that sells And tell your sore loser friends they can all just go to hell! Riding low and flying high! Accumulate until I die! We’ll sink the competition ’til they can’t feed their kids Do anything it takes to keep the costs below the lid Keep the shareholders smiling as they open their returns Anything cutting into profits is anything that burns Anything cutting precious profits is anything that burns! Gotta have a life a thousand times more fancy than the rest Prove to friends and strangers that our family’s the best And if you want to be like us and surely that’s the quest Cut me in and I can tell you all just how you should invest Riding low and flying high! Accumulate until you die! There’s even something for you if you don’t want to fuss Over where the money’s going, you can set up a blind trust No need to be concerned about where it’s going in the end Just think about the returns, the rewards are yours to spend Riding low and flying high! Accumulate until you die! We’ll sink the competition ’til they can’t feed their kids Do anything it takes to keep the costs below the lid Keep the shareholders smiling when they open their returns Anything cutting into profits is anything that burns Anything cutting precious profits is anything that burns! You know I just can’t wait for heaven, gotta have it hear on Earth ‘Cause I’ve earned it with my skills and circumstances of my birth Buy myself designer suits and Gucci handbags for the wife Dress her in mink coats and diamonds gonna show her the sweet life Riding low and flying high! Accumulate until we die... Don’t worry about the things that you might hear on the news About all the corporate greed and all the human rights abuse It’s just a bunch of bleeding hearts who waste their energy On helping other people instead of you and me Riding low and flying high! Accumulate until we die!
2.
Proud citizens, a nation on the rise The World Cup and Olympics in two years’ time A few more deaths may be the price to pay For the stadiums to be ready for the games to play After banning beer in arenas after deaths at soccer games We vote for a reversal so our sponsor can proclaim That cerveja would be flowing in the stadiums again ‘Cause the king of beers it is quite clear has come to take his reign Oh, here in the Amazon we’ve got some pesky laws To protect the rainforest but don’t take any pause Got to build lots of dams for the energy we need So move the tribes aside and forge ahead with speed Just use the power bestowed to you and wield the mighty pen And inconvenient laws are gone ’til we want ‘em back again Don’t worry about the residents we force to relocate ‘Cause 25,000 Indian votes a president does not make Oh, dam that river, and dam what they might say About the Kayapo and anybody standing in our way Can’t let outdated livelihoods obstruct ambitious plans Creating two years worth of jobs re-purposing the lands So get yourselves out of the way and stop blocking the roads We kindly have provided you with new concrete abodes The fish have left the Xingu, so take a job among the crew And help construct the very dam that’s planned to displace you Oh, what do wind and solar power have to do With our consortium of hydro plants and fossil fuels? If you think that we need your blessing, well then please Ask the U.S., Canada and the Spanish and the Portuguese You think we must consult you, get permission from your tribe? Well honorable Cardoso she has ruled quite otherwise And a re-imagined forest code from Madame President Makes it quite clear that we can clear you from your residents So dam that river and damn what they might say ‘bout the Juruna tribe and anybody standing in our way Can’t let outdated livelihoods obstruct ambitious plans Creating two years worth of jobs re-purposing the lands So get yourselves out of the way and stop blocking the roads We kindly have provided you with new concrete abodes The fish have left the Xingu, take a job among the crew And help construct the very dam that’s planned to displace you Yes - dam that river, and dam what they might say ‘bout the Arara tribe and anyone that’s standing in our way Got aluminum to smelt and rivers to divert Might cost more than it saves but it'll be someone else’s term The fish have left the Xingu, take a job among the crew And help construct the very dam that’s planned to displace you
3.
Hey kid, wanna make some dough? Just head down South towards Mexico Get yourself set up with a nice gun shop The sales are bound to never stop! For some strange reason there’s no end to the orders When you set yourself up at the Mexican border Don’t let the proximity trouble your soul Leave it up to the folks on the border patrol Come fuel the slaughter across the border But don’t you send us your songs and daughters! If not from you, they’ll get ‘em someplace else So don’t let the thoughts make you trouble yourself There’s no way you could know that a piece that you sell Ended up in the hands of the local cartel Oh, there’s no need for a background check No need for a card or a check Just put out your hands and it’s filled with green Head into town and make the scene And fuel the slaughter across the border But don’t you send us your songs and daughters Oh how many dead Mexicans will it take To ensure massive profits from the sales you will make? ‘Cause the newest board member of the NRA Wants to buy him a yacht, and he wants it today! So don’t you challenge our amendment rights ‘Cause we’ll fight to protect them with all our might ‘Cause hunting and protections what we’re selling ‘em for Never told anyone to go start a drug war! We fuel the slaughter across the border 
And don’t you send us your sons and daughters Oh where will the bullets go? You’ll never need to know
4.
Kimberley 07:31
The survived the copters, they survived the landmines But the '47s claimed their lives And I found myself at the age of nine Being sent to work at the very mine Where my parents would dig from dawn to dusk To find the prize that would deliver us From a world of abject poverty In a highly resource blessed country But Mugabe and friends were of different minds And decided to take all that we could find To pay the staggering debts of the ZMDC They took over the mines and now they've taken me Oh, Kimberley don't you see? Your rules just don't apply to me Torn from school to work as a government slave Dawn to dusk we tear at the lands So a bride can proudly extend her hand Unaware of the dogs and the torture and rape Mugabe and his wife Grace aka dis-Grace Holes to dig on either side One for the bodies and one for the mine Under cover of darkness we would blindly dig To find a ticket out among the rocks and twigs But the soldiers won't tolerate any losses Got to build up a stack to pay their bosses Unless a pebble or two should happen to slip Beneath the flap of a sack between their belt and hip In hopes of finding deportation to a nearby Kimberley authorized nation Away from the eyes of Robert Mugabe (n)E(g)LECTED leader of Zimbabwe Who lives with dis-Grace so exhorbitantly Oh, Kimberley don't you see? Your rules just don't apply to me Torn from school to work as a government slave Dawn to dusk we tear at the lands So a bride can proudly extend her hand Unaware of the dogs and the torture and rape Down in a hole deep inside of the Earth Searching for diamonds of natural birth That could be made quite conflict free In the safe confines of a laboratory Of equal beauty and composition Without the need for ammunition But the brides and grooms feel better knowing That their gems were many centuries growing In a veritable ancient garden Of slowly growing crystal carbon In lands that must be cleared and torn And guarded by men in uniform Oh, Kimberley don't you see? Your rules just don't apply to me Torn from school to work as a government slave Dawn to dusk we tear at the lands So a bride can proudly extend her hand Unaware of the dogs and the torture and rape
5.
Off a dark continent by the edge of the sea Lies a dark liquid gold waiting to be seized By whomever has the confidence, by whomever has the might Irregardless of the consequence, irregardless of the right Black liquid gold Worth more than the land that God gave to Eve More valuable than the oceans and the air we breathe Worth more than the cries in the middle of the night Of the widowed wives of those who sacrificed Black liquid gold They met you with poise and they met you with valiance And you met them with charts showing profits per gallons But the mighty Dutch gilder proved too hard to resist For the Nigerian generals and the minds they would twist And like those who came before with only gold on their minds To the natives and their lands and to their rights they are blind As history has shown on every continent Yellow or black gold always leaves a trail of lament Black liquid gold As their veins once carried to their arteries Your pipes now take their blood to your refineries So it can fuel our cars and our SUVs But if you look up to the stars then you just might see Ogoni Nine, Ogoni 9 Unmoved by blackmail, undeterred by death They forged on for their tribe as your noose stole their breath As you watched without concern for a Heaven or a hell Or the lives you sold to Royal Dutch Shell Ogoni Nine, Ogoni Nine, Ogoni Nine, Ogoni Nine They Royal Dutch Shell oil company They weren't what you needed them to be The Royal Dutch Shell oil company They weren't where you needed them to be
6.
Teotihuacan 05:40
Teotihuacan – what the heck is going on? Teotihuacan – what on Earth is going on? Last time I visited your famous pyramids I was greeted by such friendly smiles on the faces of your kids Now as I pull into town, I’m greeted by a sea of frowns And traffic surrounding a great eyesore in the form of a Walmart store So, Teotihuacan – what the heck is going on? Teotihuacan – what on Earth is going on? As I inquire as to what’s going on ’round here I hear of tales of bribery, corruption and of fear False surveys and altered maps and bribes to keep it all under wraps A trail of bogus documents from every level of government So… Teotihuacan – what the heck is going on? Teotihuacan – what on Earth is going on? Ain’t it nice when the mayor can afford a hilltop ranch? On a civil servant’s salary of $47 grand? And as he takes a leisurely hike, down below there’s hunger strikes And in the market where tradition lives, a cold shoulder was all you could give So… Teotihuacan – what the heck is going on? Teotihuacan – what on Earth is going on? As the backhoes and bulldozers broke into protected ground The treasures of the Aztec world were waiting to be found Just slide a nice thick envelope across a shiny desk And petty laws and history are easy to forget Yes, petty laws and history are easy to forget! Teotihuacan, Teotihuacan, Teotihuacan, Te-te-teotihuacan I guess it was easy enough to buy out Purificacion When you got the funds to give them everything they want, so now you own Why play by the laws and rules in a world full of suckers and fools And people willing to make nice as long as you can meet their price? Oh, Teotihuacan, Teotihuacan Teotihuacan, what on Earth is going on? How much did you have to pay so many authorities? The zoning and traffic bureaus and the institute of history The cost of doing business with 250 customers per hour May be the price of misery when you crave wealth and power May be the price of misery when you crave wealth and power Teotihuacan, Teotihuacan Teotihuacan, Te-te-teotihuacan!
7.
Wishing Well 06:13
As prophetically predicted on the flag of Kiribati The view of these islands in the next century A passing bird confounded by its discovery Of a Sun setting over a lonely vacant sea In most events you could imagine that you would be quite stunned To find such a tiny nation placing in at number one But in the race to see who first will sink below the sea This tiny island nation has a shot to go down in history Good-bye dear friends - we wish you will be well It’s an inevitable outcome ‘cause you know we’ve got to sell Our inefficient cars from less efficient factories ‘Cause to change would infringe on our dearest liberties Yeah, the Maldives have a plan to make the future sell There’s no view like you can get from their underwater hotel Just slink out of your window in your iron lung and fins I hope that you like seafood ‘cause you know chicken doesn’t swim Now it gives a whole new meaning to emerging from a meeting When the president and cabinet offer their warmest greeting After taking off their masks after a meeting down below Where they’ve set up desks and chairs to convene below the ocean’s flow Good-bye dear friends - we wish you will be well It’s an inevitable outcome ‘cause you know we’ve got to sell Our inefficient cars from less efficient factories ‘Cause to change would infringe on our dearest liberties Wishing well, we wish you well as you sink into the wishing well Now if you’ve got an extra boat and you don’t know what to do Get it off to Bangladesh and sell it as a floating school And if your path gets flooded and you’re feeling pretty hardened Lighten up and by some produced from a local floating garden ‘Cause when the monsoons come they’ve developed quite a craft Growing fruits and vegetables right out of seaweed on a raft But if wading ‘cross the village man, just ain’t your scene In Dhaka there’s 15 million people that you can squeeze between Good-bye dear friends - we wish you will be well It’s an inevitable outcome ‘cause you know we’ve got to sell Our inefficient cars from less efficient factories ‘Cause to change would infringe on our dearest liberties Up, up the water goes - when it’s gonna stop nobody knows Up, up the water goes - where it’s gonna stop nobody knows Up, up the water goes - when it’s gonna stop nobody knows Up, up the water goes - where the people gonna live, nobody knows
8.
Another bargain in a Walmart as the register goes "ching-ching" Meanwhile downtown in New York City, hear the closing bell go "ring-ading" A crowded factory in South Asia, the alarm sounds "ring ding dingaling" A plush office suite in Bentonville - record profits make the fat cats sing 'Cause there's no end to the extent to They are willing to retrench to Make sure that they pad their wallets Your life can't stack up to profits aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Another factory in Bangla country - the inspector turns the other way Knows exactly what he must do to ensure his supplemental pay Structural soundness, flame retardation - they will have to wait another day Just like the one in Rana Plaza - can't let safety stand in profit's way 'Cause there's no end to the extent to They're willing to condescend to Make sure that they pad their wallets Your life can't stack up to profits aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! And as the flames start to surround you Realize it's for a greater cause And as the walls crash down around you Comfort yourself with thoughts of profit laws And as the newsflash covers the story Don't expect anyone to take pause Because you know the job providers Have got to keep down their costs No need for pesky regulations No need to have to pay minimum wage No need to ever have to worry If workers are above minimum age 'Cause when your racing to the bottom No regulation standing in your way Divide your income by a thousand And the result can be their pay Back in the land of milk and honey, hear the phones go "ring ring ring-a-ding" An acquisition, a celebration - change in the pockets goes jing-jingling And in the factories of Bangladesh you can be sure to expect the same old thing 'Cause after all what would be the chances of more disaster being on the brink?
9.
You know the government, they can't do anything right So if you want efficiency then you have got to privatize So in the state of Pennsylvania we two judges did agree To let the county J.D. hall to close and let an LLC Called PA Child Care have a complete monopoly In helping kids to serve rather extended penalties That we could guarantee with a zero tolerance policy That happened to provide us with a rather generous fee... yeah Yeah, zero tolerance - that's the way we role So you'd better get your teenage self under tight control You get in trouble in school, you're gonna face the bench Become the latest corporate facility resident Shoplifting nutmeg, joyriding mama's car Made a webpage on your principal? Well, you've gone too far! If you get into a catfight with some nasty girl at school Expect a several month long sentence to be in store for you I don't care if you're eleven, the only thing it means to me Is we've got to deal quite harshly with your criminal history So expect to enter teendom in our plush facility 'Cause we've got to cut you off from your immoral family Who would otherwise provide you with way too much sympathy And I think it's about time you took responsibility Instead of running 'round spending your teen years fancy free We've got a spot for you in medium security Yeah, zero tolerance - that's the way we role Better get your pre-pubescent self under tight control You get in trouble in school, you're gonna face the bench Become the latest corporate facility resident Don't want to hear excuses that you didn't have a clue That your friend was stealing DVDs across the store from you! You're a liar, an accomplice, you're a looking and a thief Follow the bailiff as I give a little kickback to the chief! You know there's no profit in a slap on the wrist Got to send you away and make you dwell on what you did Your friends back in school finish out their sophomore year We've got some wonderful new friends for you to meet right here! Yes myself and Conahan we conjured up quite a plan But it wasn't out of greed I hope you all will understand That Judge Ciavarella always wanted what was best It just happened to work out we became financially blessed So as I exit the courthouse do you think I want to hear How I ruined your son's life, ended his wrestling career? As I head off to spend 28 years in a prison cell Do you think my main concern is you want me to burn in hell? Yeah, zero tolerance, that's the way we roll Better hope the Lord and Savior will forgive my poor soul Yeah, zero tolerance - it's quite the irony When suddenly the theory is applied to me No JD's at my mercy, no Juris Doctor degree I'd better show some good behavior if I want to go free
10.
Come on in! How wonderful to see you! Welcome to the offices of Earth, Incorporated! That’s right, we were able to buy the whole planet. Some socialists tried to stop us by trying to place artificial limits on the amount of wealth a few individuals could control, but, let’s just say the politicians were on our side. I know, some people ask how we can be comfortable owning an entire planet when some people don’t even have food, but we’ve been blessed and we need to enjoy our blessings and be thankful for the riches God has given us. If you’d like to buy some stock in Planet Earth, now’s a fantastic time to get in. Climate change won’t reach catastrophic levels for several more years, so we’re looking forward to steady growth for a good while ahead. Now if you could just wait a short while, We’ve got to get to a quick meeting with some world leaders To make sure we don’t have to pay any taxes on our profits. You don’t want to tax the job creators! We’ll be back in just a short while to discuss those stock options!

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Tales from Earth Incorporated is a concept album about greed, exposing how economic injustice impacts people around the world with surprisingly engaging and catchy songs about climate change, drug cartels, sweat shop labor, for-profit prisons and the like.

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released December 31, 2018

All songs words and music by Dan Sheehan © 2018 Fort Dakesh Music (ASCAP)

Dan Sheehan – guitars, vocals, bass, keyboards - except as noted below
Dave Krusen – drums - except as noted below
Ori Yekutiel – drums on Black Gold, Zero Tolerance and Ring Ding Ding
Patrick Moraz – piano on Wishing Well and Kimberley
Karmina Dai – vocals on Riding Low, Wishing Well, Black Gold, Head Down South/Cross the Border, Dam That River
John LaBarbera – classical guitar on Dam That River and Teotihuacan; cavaquinho and percussion on Dam That River; cuatro on Teotihuacan
Vinnie Cutro – trumpet on Riding Low, Wishing Well, Teotihuacan, Head Down South and Zero Tolerance
Peter Furlan – saxophone on Riding Low, Wishing Well and Zero Tolerance
Nadya Kourani – strings on Riding Low, Wishing Well, and Black Gold
Paul Lee – violin on Riding Low, Wishing Well, and Black Gold
Will Sapanaro – bass on Wishing Well
Andy Krikun – vocals on Riding Low
Kevin Nathaniel – mbira and hoshos on Kimberley
Jake Brown – sitar on Rana Plaza/Ring Ding Ding
Sherry Adams – voice on Earth, Incorporated

Produced and recorded by Dan Sheehan at various locations.
Additional engineers: Andy Krikun and Patrice DeVincentis.
Mixed by Bob Both with Dan Sheehan at Twain Recording, West Milford, NJ.
Mastered by Marc-Dieter Einstmann at Einstmann Mastering, Hamburg, Germany.

© 2018 Dakesh Entertainment. All rights reserved.

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Dan Sheehan

Dan Sheehan releases socially conscious music raising awareness of various issues including climate change, gun violence, and more.

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