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1959, Mose Allison doesn’t see a very good world for a young man.
Young Man’s Blues lays out a basic problem of economics, the imbalance in the distribution of wealth. Mose saw it pretty clear in 1959, then The Who covered the song, then the Foo Fighters covered the song. Hmm, I wonder why these musicians from vastly different eras were drawn to this somewhat obscure tune? Maybe because things might not have changed all that much, maybe because the divide between rich and poor, and the poverty of youth have gotten worse. Maybe.
Young Man’s Blues
Mose Allison
Oh well a young man ain’t got nothin’ in the world these days
I said a young man ain’t got nothin’ in the world these days
You know in the old days
When a young man was a strong man
All the people they’d step back
When a young man walked by
But you know nowadays
It’s the old man,
He’s got all the money
And a young man ain’t got nothin’ in the world these days
I said nothing
Everybody knows that a young man ain’t got nothin’
Everybody!
Everybody knows that a young man ain’t got nothin’
He got nothin’
Nothin’
Take it easy on the young man
They ain’t got nothin’ in the world these days
I said they ain’t got nothin’!
They got sweet fuck-all!