Bossnappers

Soundcloud link

[mournful, slow]
The way that things are going, won’t make nothing here no more
Pink slips for all the workers, soon they’ll close the foundry doors
Will these ruins swallow our voices while they turn our town to scrap
Will they learn they have to listen- when the bosses take a nap

[fast, dance-like]
Chorus:
Lock down every window, turn the lights down low
Nobody’s going home until they pay us what they owe
They took away our dignity, they took away our pride
So we took it over with the boss inside 

We got hard times and breadlines, they got their parachute-
They ran this place into the ground, and made off with the loot
They bounced out of this ghost town, they even bounced the checks,
But the belts that we’ve been tightening could tighten ‘round their necks

Chorus, then instrumental

Bridge [slow, wistful]
Did you race against machines for a few pennies on your wage?
Did you watch the summer days roll by the windows of your cage?
Did you stop writing your poetry, and lose life's little joys?
Did you try to fill the space with faster cars and better toys?
And when the toys stopped selling and they closed the factory gate,
did the company and the union both consign you to your fate?

[grim and angry- a march:]
The kisses of the guillotine, we no longer dispense
But one way or another, we will have a severance
So if you’re tired of the game, or want an even score-
Remember that sweet justice lies behind the office door
[eight blasting beats of percussion]

Chorus


Written in the Freygish mode, this song celebrates the labor tactic of kidnapping your boss and holding them for ransom as part of collective bargaining, resisting plant closures, or severance negotiations.