Nothing you can buy loves you forever. Tonight’s song is two dangerous things: political and opinionated. But it’s also raw and real, and the only thing we’ve ever promised to be at CI is genuine. Eli was playing this song the night I met him, and I finally got him to record it tonight. He’s never told me who the old woman is—the one who woke him up—but he says the story in the song is real. I am proud to post this song because it speaks to the goal of our project—to be human-centric rather than money-centric in our crafting of music and in our giving it to others. This post is devoted to some bloggers whom we feel will appreciate the primary message of this song (the one in the title), if not its entirety: anticapitalist, anarchistart, fuckyeahmarxismleninism, the-fall-of-ideals, theamericanbear, and anarchei. Enjoy. — K.C.

     Nothing you can buy loves you forever

Well, I was walkin’ down the street,
when an old lady came up to me.
She said, “Son, you need to get your priorities straight.”
I said, “Mamsy, what do you mean?”
She said, “You have no love to call your own.”
I said, “Well I love plenty of things; just listen to this poem.”

I love the shiny shoes I’m walkin’ in,
and the cheap whiskey you smell on my breath.
I love the water that I’m bathing in,
and all the women that I’m bathing with.
I love my car ‘cause she’s fast as lightning,
and all the good times I’ve spent on friends,
and all…

“Listen here boy,” she said.
Those things won’t stick with you ‘til the grave.
Nothing, and I say nothing, you can buy loves you forever.
If you don’t see this now, then you’re really gonna pay.
Listen to what I have to say.”

A little rain’ll ruin them shiny shoes
and eventually that whiskey bottle’ll be empty.
Wells dry up if we misuse ‘em,
and when you’re old, nothing in a skirt wants you.
That car of lightning dies faster than thunder.
And how many of those friends are worth being with?
At the end of the day what memories are lasting?
What kind of future are you setting yourself up with?

I think I get it. All these things,
all this stuff we can buy, cluttering up our world,
it ain’t worth nothing.
Nothing you can buy loves you forever.
So where do we get love?
Where can we find love?
That’s right; in each other.
All we gotta do is love each other.
Love each other.

Remember the old lady you helped across the street,
and the hungry man you gave your pocket change.
Remember the person who showed you how to make love.
and the mother you haven’t called in months,
All these people, they touch our hearts,
it’s them, it’s them, we’ll remember.
So stand up now and shake your neighbor’s hand.
Stand up now and throw your wallet to the ground
‘cause nothing you can buy loves you forever.
All we have now is each other.