Lyrics Atlas Choking - Richard Shindell

Atlas Choking

Ayn is dead, she died in her bed
At the end of a terrible illness
Her oxygen berth untethered from earth
She drifted up into the stillness
Eleven years later, good old Yul Brenner
Found himself there in the ether
Dead Ayn Rand took Yul by the hand
And said, how does it feel to be free
Meanwhile on the planet the devil’s still at it
Making a killing churning out addicts
Everybody everywhere sucking in Ayn’s air
Atlas choking
Big tobacco sent flowers around
With a note and basket of options
If you know what’s good for you hold on to these
Cause everything’s going to go up up up
Greenspan and Stockman leading the horsemen
The party was just getting started
The Marlboro man rode into Japan
And looked over the water to China
All over the planet the devil’s still at it
Making a killing churning out addicts
Everybody everywhere sucking in Ayn’s air
Atlas choking
Rational greed, the national creed
Will keep things smoking along
So keep watching those shares, but don’t you dare share
The poor are that way for good reason
So everyone hush, utopia’s flush
And beckoning off in the long-run
Meanwhile on the planet the devil’s still at it
Making a killing churning out addicts
Everybody everywhere sucking in Ayn’s air
Atlas choking