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The inspiration from this track came when tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes decided to take action on climate change. He did this by attempting to purchase my local coal-fired power plant expressly for the purpose of shutting it down. He was unsuccessful in that (though he has succeeded in affecting the management of the company) but it make me think about these incredibly rich and powerful men and what kind of wildcard role their business dealings might play in the energy transition.

lyrics

Captains of Industry
©2023 Penelope Swales


Ohhh...

Captains of Industry
I'm tending my silverbeet
Aware of a shift in the world
Not just down here with the roots and the hyphae
But up in your capital halls
I'm not good at reading the financial pages
But I know the true news of the world is there laid
And even my layperson's ears hear
What some of you are saying

Captains of Industry
Some of begin to see
That without our beautiful world
There's be no more profits
That's the bottom line
No future for the empires you lovingly build
A dirt farmer, I watch
The clash of the gods
Between those who would change it
And those who would change us
Between the lords of extraction
And the long-sighted faction
Not so different here on the ground

Ohhh...

Captains of Industry
How clear it does seem to me
That you have been running the world
All our pathetic attempts at democracy
Can only be said to have failed
While Broadbent and Barnaby ignore our plight
The head of the IMF can't sleep at night
And Scomo goes to Glasgow
With the same tired lies
That we hear at home
Here in the bushfire zone

Ohhh...

Captains of Industry
An anomaly it seems to me,
That we should be relying on you
If our leaders won't lead us
Or follow our lead
Can your business plans punch a way though?
While Adani and Palmer want business as usual
Brookfield and Cannon-Brookes make a bid for AGL
Gina Rinehart feeds her pets
While Larry Fink tells the rest
To save the world, for Capital!

While the Dons of Disinformation
In league with the Proud Boys of Persuasion
While the Sovereigns of Sophistry
Pay the Doyennes of Data
For the key biases of the Nation
While the cliches are hitting the hustings
The big end of town does the costings
Some place a bet each way
While others try to save the day
And we don't know who we can trust in
And still our leaders prevaricate
Stuck in the pockets of their mining mates
Telling us we can't put food on our plates
If we save the world we're enmeshed in


Oh, Captains of Industry
Who'll be the ones to protect me?
Oh, Captains of Industry
Who'll be the ones to protect me?

Ohhh...

credits

from Captains of Industry, released December 17, 2023
Penelope Swales: Lead vocals, Guitar, Stomp box,

Mal Webb: Backing Vocals, Bass

Kylie Morrigan: Backing Vocals, Violin

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Penelope Swales Boolarra, Australia

Penelope Swales has been articulating the human condition with passion and humour for 30+ years. She sings about politics, love, friendship, the unbreakable bond between us and dogs and the impact of the Internet on society. She won the 2019 Alistair Hulett Songs for Social Justice Award with “Cambridge Analytica”. “The Ides of March in Christchurch" was short-listed for the same award in 2020. ... more

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