"Payola" lyrics

Now, I really don't care if I ain't western as fuck
'Cause I don't wear a hat and I don't drive a truck
I've made everything but a living
My voice has gotten used
I ain't selling my soul for a couple of views

Payola for thee
Payola for playlists, blue checkmarks, and follows and streams
We'll license your song
Give ya 60 percent
We'll advance you some dough
So you got money to spend
Put it all toward the motion
When she blows up big
High five our fat asses with our 40 percent
Payola for thee
Payola for playlists with checkmarks and follows and streams

There are folks in the business no older than me
That ain't ever done nothing but e-mail
And drinkin' the Coke in the kitchen
It ain't Coca-Cola, and they'll swear and declare
Payola, Payola

Payola for thee
Brought to you by nepotism
And veiled in authority
Payola for thee
It's The Wizard of Oz
And the curtains that do-re-mi-mi-mi

I ain't ever been viral
But I've had the flu
It was hard to monetize
But I made it through
And then the 'rona raged
And the labels went home
We went back to Starbucks
They took PPP loans

Payola for thee
Payola for wages
Lost in the divine comedy
Payola for thee
It's The Wizard of Oz
And the curtains that do-re-mi-mi-mi

From the cowboy cosplay of Music City
To the LA cyborgs of New York pretties
Austin City's got no limit for DMT dreams
It's all bought and paid for
It ain't as it seems

Payola for thee
It's the vending machine of a music industry
Payola for thee
Brought to you by nepotism
And veiled in authority

It's a shallow money trench
Thompson's correct
Sail through an ocean of shit
And ya still get wrecked

Payola for thee
Payola for playlists with checkmarks and follows and streams
Payola for thee
Brought to you by nepotism
And veiled in authority
Payola for thee
It's The Wizard of Oz
And the curtains that do-re-mi-mi-mi