"Glory has been hated by many, money by none" someone said once, reversing the classic saying. So today we will refer to songs about money, while we we will focus on glory next time.1. Money – Pink Floyd
(Roger Waters)
One of the most popular songs by Floyd, Money is a different song, due to the 7/4 meter and the classic riff written by David Gilmour, while as far as lyrics are concerned it is an ironic view of the capitalistic debauch. From the colossal The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973).
2. Pay Me My Money Down – Bruce Springsteen
(Traditional)
The album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006) included the Boss's views about a series of traditional American songs. This one is a labor song created by black deckhands – it was chosen to be the first single from the album.
3. Easy Money – Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
(Nick Cave)
With the double album Abattoir Blues/The Lyre Of Orpheus (2004), Cave and his gang proved they could create great things even without Blixa Bargeld who had walked away a while before. Tracks like this are a token of how great the 13th release by the band was.
4. You Never Give Me Your Money – The Beatles
(John Lennon-Paul McCartney)
A piano ballad that gradually speeds up to evolve into a combination of guitars and choir vocals. It is the first track of the great medley of the second side of Abbey Road (1969), the swan song by the Beatles, in which McCartney comments on the dispute between the four members over their finances back then.
5. The Moneymaker – Rilo Kiley
(Jenny Lewis)
The second single from Under The Blacklight (2007) is a funky-ish song, with Pierre de Reeder's bass on the foreground and with lyrics that refer to sex and porn industry of Los Angeles.
6. Money Talks – JJ Cale
(JJ Cale-Christine Lakeland)
“Money talks, says strange things” sings JJ Cale, along with Christine Lakeland, in this song from the album 8 in 1983. A classic recipe for the American songwriter with his characteristic voice and his special guitars holding the reins.
7. Money For Nothing – Dire Straits(Mark Knopfler-Sting)
When Sting was being invited to sing backing vocals in the recording of this classic song from Brothers In Arms (1985), he could not have imagined that his label would then demand to have his name next to that of Knopfler in the compositional credits. Nor did of course the Dire Straits expect to be accused of racism and homophobia based on the song's lyrics...
8. Money, Money – Liza Minnelli/Joel Grey
(John Kander-Fred Ebb)
Liza Minnelli at her most popular movie role, that of Sally Bowles, performs along with Joel Grey in a classic song. From the film Cabaret (1972) by Bob Fosse.
9. Money, Money, Money – ABBA
(Benny Andersson-Bjorn Ulvaeus)
One of the singles from the fourth album by the Swedish ABBA, Arrival (1976). Like their previous single, the exceptional Dancing Queen, it also met great success wolrdwide and is included among the band's best songs, while it was also included in the musical Mamma Mia by Catherine Johnson.
10. In It For The Money – Supergrass
(Gaz Coombes-Rob Coombes-Danny Goffey-Mick Quinn)
The opening song from the homonym album in 1997 tells the change of direction the Supergrass made compared to their debut, I Should Coco (1995). With it, they clearly stood beyond the punk aesthetics of their previous step and moved in more difficult, but also more interesting paths.
* Photos from http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cas/biology/images/money_1.jpg and www.wikipedia.org.
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