“Do They Owe Us a Living?” is one of the very first songs recorded by the British anarchist punk band Crass in 1977. The chorus is “do they owe us a living? Of course they fucking do,” meaning that we all—regardless of who we are or where we come from or what we do for work—deserve quality of life. That this idea is still radical in 2020 is testament to the infuriating lack of creativity, empathy, and joy that constitutes life in a purely capitalist society.

Crass sold their albums so cheaply they lost money on every sale; this single costs $5 and we’re donating 100% of proceeds to One Fair Wage’s Emergency Coronavirus Tipped and Service Worker Support Fund, which provides direct cash assistance to restaurant workers, car service drivers, delivery workers, personal service workers and more who are owed a living, now as ever.

Our recording owes a huge debt of gratitude to The Soft Pink Truth, who recorded an excellent version of “Do They Owe Us a Living?” for 2004 for Do You Want New Wave (Or Do You Want The Soft Pink Truth?). Our cover is a cover of this cover.

The Crass Logo was designed by Dave King. We made this pixel version in Animal Crossing.

Lyrics:

Do they owe us a living? Of course they do, of course they do Do they owe us a living? Of course they fucking do

They don't want me anymore, threw it on the floor Used to call me sweet thing, I'm nobody's plaything And now that I am different, love to bust my head You'd love to see me cop out, love to see me dead

Do they owe us a living? Of course they do, of course they do Do they owe us a living? Of course they fucking do

The living that is owed to me, I'm never going to get Buggered this whole world up, up to their necks in debt. Give you a lobotomy for something you ain't done Make you the epitome of everything that's wrong

Do they owe us a living? Of course they do, of course they do Do they owe us a living? Of course they fucking do

Don't take any notice of what the public thinks So much on the TV, just don't want to think. Used you as a target, they want to sell advice When you don't want to hear it, say you're full of vice

Do they owe us a living? Of course they do, of course they do Do they owe us a living? Of course they fucking do

Credits:

Released April 3, 2020 Recorded, performed, produced, and mixed by YACHT Mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk

Donate on Bandcamp:https://yacht.bandcamp.com/track/do-they-owe-us-a-living