Sunday Song Lyric

We've been focusing on Chicago artists the last few weeks, and before I broaden my scope to go back to including the rest of the world, I'd like to include one more Chicagoan: Patti Smith

Most people don't think of her as a Chicago artist. She grew up in New Jersey and made her name in New York City's punk scene. In fact, she's lived her entire adult life in New York, with the exception of a decade or so spent in Detroit. But Patti Smith was born in Chicago, and that means we can claim her as one of our own!

Like Captain Marvel, Patti Smith has a namesake. Don't confuse Patti Smith with Patty Smyth. Nothing wrong with the Patty-with-a-y (just like there's nothing wrong with Captain Marvel-the-Kree), but Patti-with-an-i is part of the bedrock upon which all subsequent music has been built (just like Captain Marvel-who-says-Shazam).

Patt Smith's debut album, Horses, routinely finds itself on "Greatest Album of All Time" lists, and deservedly so. It's got one of the greatest opening lines in all of music -- "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine" -- and the entire album is compelling from start to finish. Plus, it's got an amazing cover by Smith's then-boyfriend Robert Maplethorpe.

I think if Smith had done nothing else in her career save Horses, she would still be worthy of a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Fortunately, she did other things. It's a little ironic, considering her talents as a writer, that her biggest commercial success came from a song that someone else wrote -- "Because the Night." Then again, the "someone else" was Bruce Springsteen, and he's no slouch in the songwriting department either.

Below are the lyrics to "Free Money," a track from Horses. They closed CBGB a little less than a year ago. This is a crime, and later generations will wonder why it was not preserved as a national landmark. But if they were going to close the place down, since the Ramones are dead, Patti Smith was the perfect choice to close the place down. Which she did, playing for three and a half hours. So after you read the lyrics to "Free Money," check out Patti's performance of the song at the October 15, 2006 CBGB farewell concert.

Free Money
Patti Smith

Every night before I go to sleep
Find a ticket, win a lottery,
Scoop the pearls up from the sea
Cash them in and buy you all the things you need.
Every night before I rest my head
See those dollar bills go swirling 'round my bed.
I know they're stolen, but I don't feel bad.
I take that money, buy you things you never had.

Oh, baby, it would mean so much to me,
Oh, baby, to buy you all the things you need for free.
I'll buy you a jet plane, baby,
Get you on a higher plane to a jet stream
And take you through the stratosphere
And check out the planets there and then take you down
Deep where it's hot, hot in Arabia, babia, then cool, cold fields of snow
And we'll roll, dream, roll, dream, roll, roll, dream, dream.
When we dream it, when we dream it, when we dream it,
We'll dream it, dream it for free, free money,
Free money, free money, free money, free money, free money, free money.

Every night before I go to sleep
Find a ticket, win a lottery.
Every night before I rest my head
See those dollar bills go swirling 'round my bed.

Oh, baby, it would mean so much to me,
Baby, I know our troubles will be gone.
Oh, I know our troubles will be gone, goin' gone
If we dream, dream, dream for free.
And when we dream it, when we dream it, when we dream it,
Let's dream it, we'll dream it for free, free money,
Free money, free money, free money,
Free money, free money, free money,
Free money, free money, free money,
Free money, free money, free money,
Free money, free money, free money,
Free money, free money, free money,
Free money, free money, free money,
Free money, free money, free money, free.

Posted by Jason Fliegel at August 26, 2007 11:38 AM