The Working Clash

Music & Lyrics: Tom Ass

The „Leaders“:
Last week we threw some thousands out
This week we spread the share
We lower the wages and rise dividends
Hey – we all know life ain’t fair

Yesterday we closed the factory down
Today we proudly claim the gain
No more expenses and no more jobs
Hey – there’s no progress without pain

The „Narrator“:
See the way that it goes, can’t you read the signs
If you don’t realize, then you must be blind
It’s a new order now …

The „Workers“:
Once again we’re feeling down and out
You told us that our jobs are save
And now we worry, we are full of doubt
Once too often we’ve been shaved

You had the power, you were in control
We totally relied on you
But you just threw us in the hole
Now we know you always knew

The „Narrator“:
See the way that it goes, can’t you read the signs
If you don’t realize, then you must be blind
It’s a new order now, old habits are gone
Conform or you’re done

The „Leaders“:
Tomorrow we’ll spoil the whole company
And get out with a handshake of gold
Write offs for investors, regrets for the staff
Hey – don’t say you haven’t been told

Next week we’ll get into another firm
Climb to the executive floor
And start the same process over again
Hey – it will work as before

The „Narrator“:
See the way that it goes, can’t you read the signs
If you don’t realize, then you must be blind
It’s a new order now …

The „Workers“:
We turned to you, but you were tellin‘ lies
You took your profit, wrecked the train
You kept on cheatin‘ right before our eyes
Willfully led it down the drain

You talked so clever just to keep us dull
Threw all your experts in the ring
Our wallets empty, your pockets full
We’re gonna weep and you will sing

The „Narrator“:
See the way that it goes, can’t you read the signs
If you don’t realize, then you must be blind
It’s a new order now, old habits are gone
Conform or you’re done

See the way that it goes, can’t you read the signs
If you don’t realize, then you must be blind
It’s a new order now …
See the way that it goes, can’t you read the signs
If you don’t realize, then you must be blind
It’s a new order now …


The Working Clash

3.9.2017

The Working Clash is a premiere in many ways. For one thing, it's the first song I've written entirely on the bass (I usually still compose on guitar), and for another, it's the first song with such a topic that I actually publish.

Political and socio-political subjects are a hot potato, and I don't usually presume to see through all the implications and effects involved to such a degree of detail that I could go public with my personal opinion. However, in this lyrics there are many personal experiences of the last years. And when you have seen so many times that economically completely healthy companies are laying off people en masse just to drive up the profit figures, then that has to get out. Yet I am anything but a stubborn anti-capitalist.

However, earlier attempts to play The Working Clash in a band always failed musically. Somehow, no one managed to understand what I was trying to do with it. Until Leo came along (and a drummer we tried once - hello Daniel). Now the whole thing sounds satisfiying to me. Very satisfiying. And I hope you like the result as well.

Author: Tom Ass

The Working Clash – production blog

Since the song The Working Clash and the new website were created in parallel, there is no continuous production diary for this but a small summary:

DAW: here we decided to use Reaper. Tom works with Cubase, but I have the larger sound and effects libraries, which were used - see below.
Drums: after the structure of the song was set, we created the drums with Superior Drummer and adjusted them slightly. You can hear the Metal foundry.
Bass: was recorded by Tom directly into the Reaper track. There is an EQ and compressor on the track.
Guitar: With the Musicman JP6 directly into the console and reamped. For those who don't know, reamping is the process of recording the guitar's direct signal. The whole amp and effects path is then added afterwards. In my case, on the computer via GuitarRig5. I have tried Amplitube a few times before, but unfortunately never got good results. GuitarRig doesn't have licensed amps, but it creates sounds very easily and quickly, which are quite usable.
Keyboards: All sounds come from the Komplete9 library: rock organ, lead synth and synth pad.
Vocals: SM58 and off to the console. I tried to give the three different voices of the narrator, employers and workers different timbres and spatial positions.

In the future we plan to put the current work status of our songs online and hope for lively feedback, constructive criticism, nice contacts and exchange of experiences with other progafficionados - keep in progress.

Author: Leo Kapfer