That’s Progress

Give me an "M"-M!
Give me an "A"-A!
Give me a "U"-U!
Give me an "L"-L!
Give me your money - Sure!
What's that spell? - Mall
What's that spell? - Shopping Mall

'Scuse me
Pardon my greed-
You're evicted, time to leave
Don't matter if your family's lived here 30 years

We're tripling the rent
Time's up, the sheriff's here
Too bad for you if you freeze out in the street

The croissant and cookie palace
Downstairs will symbolize
The old neighborhood whose soul has slowly died
Been gentrified

[Chorus]
That's progress
That's progress
Doesn't progress make you feel good inside?

Cameras catch you runnin' red lights
Schoolrooms with no windows
Computer picks your career at age 15

Universal Price Code I.D.'s
With the stripe the laser reads
And records where you've been, when you're sick
And what you eat

For every spy in government
There's 50 private eyes
Who round up dirt on you to keep on file
Then sell the file

[Chorus]

Progress don't make me feel so good inside

You can't live here
We won't hire you
We know all the nasty things you do

Bought a dossier on your whole life
Clear back to the pranks you did in school at age 5

There's millions on file at the touch of a button
Your boss or your landlord will love our choice cuts of gossip
If it's lies, what can you do?
'Cause it costs too much to sue
The last person who'll ever see your file is you

Had enough, I moved back home
To the mountains where I belong
But ski resorts have tamed the wild west

The hills we used to roam
Now they're privately owned
And scarred with cheezy suburbs and cement

The 'Tracts For Sale' sign promises
'Deer in your back yard'
If the deer somehow get past the fences and guards
And the industrial 'park'

[Chorus]

That's progress
That's progress
Looks like I'll have to move to Yellowknife

Progress-bleah!
Your idea of progress wrecks too many lives