More is Less
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More is less, that’s the message of the day
on the verandah of the Grand Hotel.
There’s rage in the city, on the island all is calm…
The gates of heaven, just a boat-ride from hell.
I hear a rumour of a queue for daily bread
These broken businessmen whose dignity is lost.
Ah how lovely, here comes the caviar
No need for us to think about the cost, because…
More is less – watch it piling up
Add another zero! Too much is not enough…
Lobster salad, bottle of champagne
Let’s raise our glasses for a toast
to all those teachers who pay more tax than us,
to keep the sinking ship afloat.
Delightful wine list! We’ll take the ‘82
We owe it to ourselves to have the very best.
It feels so good to be one of the few
We’ll leave the crisis to the rest, because…
More is less – watch it piling up
Add another zero! Too much is not enough…
Tonight the chef has got a special treat
The Kobe beef just arrived by private jet!
Forget austerity, its not a word we use
And what’s left over, I’ll feed it to my pets, because…
More is less – watch it piling up
Add another zero! Too much is not enough…
This song imagines an extremely wealthy Greek shipping magnate sitting having an exquisite lunch at an expensive hotel on one of the islands. There is a certain level of wealth where the world financial crisis just does not come into play. It seems like the money flows up. People in this global “elite” are basically running the show, with absolutely no relation whatsoever to the ordinary people of their countries.
It seems so wrong that Greece had to offer itself for sale, allowing many of same people who caused the problems in the first place to sweep in and buy up incredibly valuable assets at a knock-down price. No-one really knows how that will play out, but something tells me there will come a time in twenty? fifty? a hundred years time when various European countries wonder why a Chinese company owns their ports and why billionaires own their islands and palaces.
Also, Maurice and I were discussing these levels of wealth (hopefully he can share his “1mm” analogy soon) and we discussed the bizarre phenomenon where dictators who fleece their countries for double figures of billions of dollars – more than they can EVER spend – they just seem to feel the need to acquire more. Hence the “too much is not enough”. There is a point beyond which the numbers of the wealthy just becomes meaningless.
Even in all that, this song is quite tongue in cheek, and the big 80s synth vibe is just fun.
