Tuesday Tuneage
Red Shadow - "Understanding Marx"
1975

First of all, a tip of the pen to Chuck and Joel at the Cosmic Slop podcast for turning me onto "Understanding Marx." It's a rare song I actually enjoy because of the lyrics, though the tune, talking vocals, and background singers are a direct lift from Ray Charles' "Understanding." Red Shadow billed themselves as "The Economics Rock & Roll Band," and among other things, Karl Marx was an economist. In this tune, Red Shadow plant their tongues firmly in their cheeks and yet still manage to relate three little vignettes about reading Marx, Lenin, and Mao and finding such truths as: "Now I've come to realize that as long as I have to sell my labor power to the boss, I work for his profit and not for myself or my fellow humankind."

Or as The Common Man might tell you on KFAN: "They make more money off of me than I make off of me, and I'm me."