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All my life I’ve been a workin’ man
On Chicago’s Northwest Side
Livin’ check to check, never gettin’ ahead
No matter how hard I tried

I had an old friend from the neighborhood
He grew up to do just fine
He couldn’t read or write to save his life
But I guess his boss didn’t mind

Now, I never quite knew what my old friend did
To get that money rollin’ in
But life, I guess, can be pretty good
For a state committeeman

So, one night over beer at the local bar
I said, “How’d you make your dough?”
My friend just grinned a wicked grin
And said “Here’s all you need to know”

CHORUS
You’ve got to pay-to-play in this town
If you wanna make that deal go down
It’s who you know inside the Big Machine
Just find the man that’s behind the man
And put some money in his hand
That’s how we try to keep our city green

VERSE
Well, the liquor flowed and the stories flew
And my old friend bared his soul
About rigging bids and getting neighbor kids
Good jobs on a ghost payroll

He said he’d be happy to help me out
If there was anything he could do
Like try to arrange a zoning change
Or put me on a movie crew

Well, we talked and talked until last call
And then I told him I was beat
Then he climbed aboard his hired truck
To see a man about a Senate seat

And late that night as I lay in bed
You know I finally figured it out
My friend didn’t need to read or write
Cause he had himself some clout

CHORUS
You’ve got to pay-to-play in this town
If you wanna make that deal go down
It’s who you know inside the Big Machine
Just find the man that’s behind the man
And put some money in his hand
That’s how we try to keep our city green

CHORUS
You’ve got to pay-to-play in this town
If you wanna make that deal go down
It’s who you know inside the Big Machine
If you wanna standout
You gotta know who gets the handout
That’s how we try to keep our city green
It’s a daily job to keep our city green