Chords for Utah Phillips - Dump The Bosses Off Your Back
Tempo:
87 bpm
Chords used:
Ab
A
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
Well, so they decided to organize.
I mean, it wasn't really a decision.
It gets rammed down your throat.
You can only take so much.
Then I suppose it was a little easier
to identify who the enemy was, and the process
a bit more subtle in these the waning days of Babylon.
Well, of course, then you didn't have free public education,
at least not for our booming people.
You didn't have mass media.
You had songs, you had stories, and you had conversation.
See, today, well, let me put it this way.
All of us assign blame in our own best interest.
Well, if we assign blame in our own best interest,
that means blame is relative.
And if blame is relative, then one
of the important functions in society
becomes who controls the blame pattern.
Why is it that large bodies of workers, like in my country,
assign blame downward to some welfare chiselers
down at the bottom?
They say trying to get a little bit of something for nothing,
and they never assign blame upward
to the handful of big time chiselers
at the top that get a whole lot of something
for doing nothing at all.
Well, that's because the blame pattern is manipulated.
Sure, through the public school.
Well, we give our kids over to that
when we put them in public school.
And then the public schools build
in little automatic responses, levers and buttons.
When they go into the labor force,
you see, then the government reaches out
through its media in every home and pushes those buttons
and pulls those levers and elicits massive response
for or against anything it chooses.
Like I say, it was easier to identify who the enemy was.
You were booming into the freight yards.
You could see the private cars rolled off on the siding.
You can see, as you were sweating underground,
like in Butte, the mansions being built
in a ring on the hills around.
See, and the mansions working their way higher up the hill,
the deeper you dug yourself into the ground.
Easy to see.
And the solution was a little easier to see, too.
Dump the bosses off your back.
[Ab]
One thing I should mention is this music is not great poetry.
You probably figured that out right away, didn't you?
Well, that's because it was real simple.
It had to be simple because people
didn't speak a lot of English or had never been to school.
But it's not like your modern protest music,
which tends to be introverted.
A lot of it very poetic.
Hard to understand, though.
Middle class music written for middle class consumption
because they got the bread to buy it, OK?
[A] What I'm saying, there's a lot of difference
between how many miles must a white dove
sail before it can rest in the sand
and dump the bosses off your back.
Ah!
Ah!
[N] Ah!
Ah!
Ah!
Ah! Ah! Ah!
Ah!
Now, that's your line in that song, by the way.
An old hymn tune, What a Friend We Have in Jesus,
the Wobblies like to steal the hymn tunes
because they were pretty and changed the words
so they made more sense.
Are you cold, forlorn, and hungry?
Are there lots of things you lack?
Is your life made up of misery?
Then dump the bosses off your back.
Are your clothes all torn and tattered?
Are you living in a shack?
Would you have your troubles scattered?
Then dump the bosses off your back.
Are you almost split asunder?
Loaded like a long-eared jack?
Boob, why don't you buck like thunder?
And dump the bosses off your back.
All the agonies you suffer, you could end with one good whack.
Stiffen up you ornery doffer, and dump the bosses off your back.
Bah, bah, bah.
I mean, it wasn't really a decision.
It gets rammed down your throat.
You can only take so much.
Then I suppose it was a little easier
to identify who the enemy was, and the process
a bit more subtle in these the waning days of Babylon.
Well, of course, then you didn't have free public education,
at least not for our booming people.
You didn't have mass media.
You had songs, you had stories, and you had conversation.
See, today, well, let me put it this way.
All of us assign blame in our own best interest.
Well, if we assign blame in our own best interest,
that means blame is relative.
And if blame is relative, then one
of the important functions in society
becomes who controls the blame pattern.
Why is it that large bodies of workers, like in my country,
assign blame downward to some welfare chiselers
down at the bottom?
They say trying to get a little bit of something for nothing,
and they never assign blame upward
to the handful of big time chiselers
at the top that get a whole lot of something
for doing nothing at all.
Well, that's because the blame pattern is manipulated.
Sure, through the public school.
Well, we give our kids over to that
when we put them in public school.
And then the public schools build
in little automatic responses, levers and buttons.
When they go into the labor force,
you see, then the government reaches out
through its media in every home and pushes those buttons
and pulls those levers and elicits massive response
for or against anything it chooses.
Like I say, it was easier to identify who the enemy was.
You were booming into the freight yards.
You could see the private cars rolled off on the siding.
You can see, as you were sweating underground,
like in Butte, the mansions being built
in a ring on the hills around.
See, and the mansions working their way higher up the hill,
the deeper you dug yourself into the ground.
Easy to see.
And the solution was a little easier to see, too.
Dump the bosses off your back.
[Ab]
One thing I should mention is this music is not great poetry.
You probably figured that out right away, didn't you?
Well, that's because it was real simple.
It had to be simple because people
didn't speak a lot of English or had never been to school.
But it's not like your modern protest music,
which tends to be introverted.
A lot of it very poetic.
Hard to understand, though.
Middle class music written for middle class consumption
because they got the bread to buy it, OK?
[A] What I'm saying, there's a lot of difference
between how many miles must a white dove
sail before it can rest in the sand
and dump the bosses off your back.
Ah!
Ah!
[N] Ah!
Ah!
Ah!
Ah! Ah! Ah!
Ah!
Now, that's your line in that song, by the way.
An old hymn tune, What a Friend We Have in Jesus,
the Wobblies like to steal the hymn tunes
because they were pretty and changed the words
so they made more sense.
Are you cold, forlorn, and hungry?
Are there lots of things you lack?
Is your life made up of misery?
Then dump the bosses off your back.
Are your clothes all torn and tattered?
Are you living in a shack?
Would you have your troubles scattered?
Then dump the bosses off your back.
Are you almost split asunder?
Loaded like a long-eared jack?
Boob, why don't you buck like thunder?
And dump the bosses off your back.
All the agonies you suffer, you could end with one good whack.
Stiffen up you ornery doffer, and dump the bosses off your back.
Bah, bah, bah.
Key:
Ab
A
Ab
A
Ab
A
Ab
A
Well, so they decided to organize.
I mean, it wasn't really a decision.
It gets rammed down your throat.
You can only take so much.
_ Then I suppose it was a little easier
to identify who the enemy was, and the process
a bit more subtle in these the waning days of Babylon.
_ _ _ Well, of course, then you didn't have free public education,
at least not for our booming people.
You didn't have mass media.
You had songs, you had stories, and you had conversation.
_ _ See, today, well, let me put it this way.
All of us assign blame in our own best interest. _
_ _ _ _ _ Well, if we assign blame in our own best interest,
that means blame is relative.
And if blame is relative, then one
of the important functions in society
becomes who controls the blame pattern. _ _
_ _ _ Why is it that large bodies of workers, like in my country,
assign blame downward to some welfare chiselers
down at the bottom?
They say trying to get a little bit of something for nothing,
and they never assign blame upward
to the handful of big time chiselers
at the top that get a whole lot of something
for doing nothing at all.
Well, that's because the blame pattern is manipulated.
Sure, through the public school. _
Well, we give our kids over to that
when we put them in public school.
And then the public schools build
in little automatic responses, levers and buttons.
When they go into the labor force,
you see, then the government reaches out
through its media in every home and pushes those buttons
and pulls those levers and elicits massive response
for or against anything it chooses.
Like I say, it was easier to identify who the enemy was.
You were booming into the freight yards.
You could see the private cars rolled off on the siding.
You can see, as you were sweating underground,
like in Butte, the mansions being built
in a ring on the hills around.
See, and the mansions working their way higher up the hill,
the deeper you dug yourself into the ground.
Easy to see.
And the solution was a little easier to see, too.
_ Dump the bosses off your back.
_ [Ab]
One thing I should mention is this music is not great poetry.
You probably figured that out right away, didn't you?
_ _ Well, that's because it was real simple.
It had to be simple because people
didn't speak a lot of English or had never been to school. _ _ _
But it's not like your modern protest music,
which tends to be introverted.
A lot of it very poetic.
Hard to understand, though.
Middle class music written for middle class consumption
because they got the bread to buy it, OK?
[A] What I'm saying, there's a lot of difference
between how many miles must a white dove
sail before it can rest in the sand
and dump the bosses off your back.
_ Ah!
_ Ah!
[N] Ah!
Ah!
Ah!
Ah! Ah! Ah!
_ Ah!
Now, that's your line in that song, by the way.
An old hymn tune, What a Friend We Have in Jesus,
the Wobblies like to steal the hymn tunes
because they were pretty and changed the words
so they made more sense. _ _
_ _ _ Are you cold, forlorn, and hungry?
Are there lots of things you lack?
Is your life made up of misery?
Then dump the bosses off your back.
Are your clothes all torn and tattered?
Are you living in a shack?
Would you have your troubles scattered?
Then dump the bosses off your back.
Are you almost split asunder?
Loaded like a long-eared jack?
Boob, why don't you buck like thunder?
And dump the bosses off your back.
All the agonies you suffer, you could end with one good whack.
Stiffen up you ornery doffer, and dump the bosses off your back.
Bah, bah, bah. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I mean, it wasn't really a decision.
It gets rammed down your throat.
You can only take so much.
_ Then I suppose it was a little easier
to identify who the enemy was, and the process
a bit more subtle in these the waning days of Babylon.
_ _ _ Well, of course, then you didn't have free public education,
at least not for our booming people.
You didn't have mass media.
You had songs, you had stories, and you had conversation.
_ _ See, today, well, let me put it this way.
All of us assign blame in our own best interest. _
_ _ _ _ _ Well, if we assign blame in our own best interest,
that means blame is relative.
And if blame is relative, then one
of the important functions in society
becomes who controls the blame pattern. _ _
_ _ _ Why is it that large bodies of workers, like in my country,
assign blame downward to some welfare chiselers
down at the bottom?
They say trying to get a little bit of something for nothing,
and they never assign blame upward
to the handful of big time chiselers
at the top that get a whole lot of something
for doing nothing at all.
Well, that's because the blame pattern is manipulated.
Sure, through the public school. _
Well, we give our kids over to that
when we put them in public school.
And then the public schools build
in little automatic responses, levers and buttons.
When they go into the labor force,
you see, then the government reaches out
through its media in every home and pushes those buttons
and pulls those levers and elicits massive response
for or against anything it chooses.
Like I say, it was easier to identify who the enemy was.
You were booming into the freight yards.
You could see the private cars rolled off on the siding.
You can see, as you were sweating underground,
like in Butte, the mansions being built
in a ring on the hills around.
See, and the mansions working their way higher up the hill,
the deeper you dug yourself into the ground.
Easy to see.
And the solution was a little easier to see, too.
_ Dump the bosses off your back.
_ [Ab]
One thing I should mention is this music is not great poetry.
You probably figured that out right away, didn't you?
_ _ Well, that's because it was real simple.
It had to be simple because people
didn't speak a lot of English or had never been to school. _ _ _
But it's not like your modern protest music,
which tends to be introverted.
A lot of it very poetic.
Hard to understand, though.
Middle class music written for middle class consumption
because they got the bread to buy it, OK?
[A] What I'm saying, there's a lot of difference
between how many miles must a white dove
sail before it can rest in the sand
and dump the bosses off your back.
_ Ah!
_ Ah!
[N] Ah!
Ah!
Ah!
Ah! Ah! Ah!
_ Ah!
Now, that's your line in that song, by the way.
An old hymn tune, What a Friend We Have in Jesus,
the Wobblies like to steal the hymn tunes
because they were pretty and changed the words
so they made more sense. _ _
_ _ _ Are you cold, forlorn, and hungry?
Are there lots of things you lack?
Is your life made up of misery?
Then dump the bosses off your back.
Are your clothes all torn and tattered?
Are you living in a shack?
Would you have your troubles scattered?
Then dump the bosses off your back.
Are you almost split asunder?
Loaded like a long-eared jack?
Boob, why don't you buck like thunder?
And dump the bosses off your back.
All the agonies you suffer, you could end with one good whack.
Stiffen up you ornery doffer, and dump the bosses off your back.
Bah, bah, bah. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _