I've watched my family & friends lose jobs they've held for 25+ years, lose benefits, seen guaranteed retirement packages "un-guaranteed" and cut.
John Rich from the country duo Big & Rich wrote this song about "Shuttin' Detroit Down" in the last week or so.
Here's a link to a clip of him talking about the song on a local Detroit radio station, where he debuted the song for the first time anywhere. It's just him discussing the song and his reasons for writing it. For some reason it doesn't have him playing the song in studio.
http://wycd.com/John-Rich-on--Shuttin--Detroit-Down--/3736399
Here's the only video I could find out there so far of him actually singing the song, at a radio station in New Jersey. Skip to about the 2:30 mark to bypass the other stuff if you just want to get to the song.
I don't know much about why the big banks got their bail out, but I can tell you about what I see here in Michigan. Proud hard working people doing often crappy jobs, but coming in and doing them every day.
My dad worked in the foundry for awhile. It's filthy, it's loud and it's about a million degrees in a foundry where they melt down metal. That makes standing on a line all day trying to put the same part on the each car every single time seem like a picnic. Shiftwork? Yeah lots of it, afternoons & midnights. When my dad was on the day shift he was up by 4:00 am every morning to be on the line by 5:00.
My grandfather, uncles, almost all doing this same work. None of them expect a medal for it, it was or is their job. They just hope for some loyalty so they can keep bringing their paychecks home, keep food on the table & maybe enjoy a little vacation "up north" on their weeks off.
What's sitting in your driveway?
9 comments:
A ford and a chevy...Yeah for me! i like this song too...I just heard it for the first time the other day.
I'd not heard this song before. Thanks for bringing it home. It's frustrating to see our world as we know it start to crumble down - and everyone's flying blind with regards to how to fix it. I can only hope that a solution is found that eases the pain for so many.
And thank you so much for coming to visit my blog. Today has been so much fun and so lovely to see the response and fun comments. I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoyed my blog and come back to visit soon!
We've got a Chevy, Dodge, & a Ford! LOL
I'm visiting from Blog Stalkers. I hadn't heard that song until I clicked on your blog, thanks for sharing it. It's sad what our country has come too. If we're the richest country in the world why is it that some of us can barely afford to live here?
We have a Chevy and 2 Fords at our house.
I'm the proud granddaughter of a GM Plant worker. That is an awesome song. So glad you shared that. That hits home on so many levels. The big shots have no clue as to the "real world" we are living in every day - just trying to make ends meet.
My parents recently sold their entire herd of cattle and every last piece of equipment just to save the farm. It was a sad day for my dad - coming from a long line of cattle farmers. But you've got to do what you can to save what you have.
My father's retirement is from Ford and his benefits have been cut to nothing. My older brother is laid off from Chrysler and my younger brother is hanging on at Detroit Diesel. I feel like all of our lives are hanging in the balance every day and it's hard to watch others lose their hard earned savings.
Yes, thank you Rich.
My Hubby works at Alcoa here in TN so I understand shift work. He drives a Dodge and I drive a Chevy non of that foreign made stuff in our driveway.
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