Credits
PERFORMING ARTISTS
Bruce Cockburn
Guitar
Chi Sharpe
Percussion
Fergus Jemison Marsh
Bass Guitar
Jonathan Goldsmith
Keyboards
Judy Cade
Background Vocals
Michael Sloski
Drums
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Bruce Cockburn
Composer
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
John Naslen
Engineer
Jonathan Goldsmith
Producer
Kerry Crawford
Producer
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Padded with power here they come
International loan sharks backed by the guns
Of market hungry military profiteers
Whose word is a swamp and whose brow is smeared
With the blood of the poor
[Verse 2]
Who rob life of its quality
Who render age a necessity
By turning countries into labor camps
Modern slavers in drag as champions of freedom
[Verse 3]
Sinister cynical instrument
Who makes the gun into a sacrament
The only response to the deification
Of tyranny of so called developed nations
Idolatry of ideology
[Verse 4]
North, South, East, West
Kill the best and buy the rest
It's just spend a buck to make a buck
You don't really give a flying fuck
About the people in misery
[Verse 5]
IMF, dirty MF
Takes away everything it can get
Always makin' certain that there one thing left
Keep them on the hook with insupportable debt
[Verse 6]
See the paid off local bottom feeders
Passing themselves off as leaders
Kiss the ladies, shake hands with the fellas
And it's open for business like a cheap bordello
[Verse 7]
And they call it democracy
And they call it democracy
And they call it democracy
And they call it democracy
[Verse 8]
See the loaded eyes of the children too
Tryna make the best of it the way kids do
One day you're gonna rise from your habitual feast
To find yourself staring down the throat of the beast
They call the revolution
[Verse 9]
IMF, dirty MF
Takes away everything it can get
Always makin' certain that there one thing left
Keep them on the hook with insupportable debt
[Verse 10]
And they call it democracy
And they call it democracy
And they call it democracy
And they call it democracy
Written by: Bruce Cockburn