Lyrics
I started with a borrowed room A second-hand old desk A head full of impossible And not much money left
I worked when no one noticed I learned by getting burned Put every dollar back again And lived on what I earned
There wasn't anybody there To guarantee the fall No safety net beneath the wire No promise there at all
But when the little thing took hold And people came to buy Funny how the story changed In everybody's eyes
They never saw the empty weeks The invoices overdue The hundred times it nearly died Before the thing came through
Then they called it greed When the workshop grew Called it privilege When the hard years finally paid their due
They never took the risk Never signed their name Never lay awake at three a.m With everything in play
I never asked for favours Never asked you to believe I made a thing that people wanted And they called it greed
The baker lights the ovens While the street is still asleep The farmer bets a season On the weather he can't keep
The woman with an idea Turns a kitchen into trade The bloke out in the shed at night Makes something no one's made
Some will fail and start again Some will find their way Some will build a better tool And earn a better day
There's no theft in two free hands Both choosing to agree You take the thing that's worth your coin The choice belongs to me
But once the roof gets higher And the little shop succeeds Someone who never laid a brick Will tell you what you need
And they'll call it greed When the workshop grows Call it luck when twenty years Of bloody hard work finally shows
They never took the risk Never carried all the blame But everybody wants a little piece Once everybody knows your name
I don't want what isn't mine I don't want what you receive I built a thing that people wanted And they called it greed
Don't tell me every mountain Must be level with the plain Don't cut the tallest timber down To make the forest look the same
Don't shame the kid who practised Don't curse the one who tried Don't make achievement something That a decent man should hide
A fair go isn't promising We'll finish side by side It's leaving open every gate And letting people stride
Some will wander, some will stumble Some will run beyond the rest The measure isn't where they finish It's whether they were free to test
I can give a hand to someone Without chaining someone strong I can care about the struggling Without saying wealth is wrong
And if success itself's a crime Tell me something before you leave
Who'll plant the seed Who'll take the risk When every harvest's called greed?
Yeah, they called it greed When the workshop grew Called it privilege When the dream we'd sweated for came true
They never took the risk Never stood where we had stood But somehow making money Making something people need Was suddenly no good
I don't want your neighbour's share I don't need permission to believe There's dignity in building something Let them call it greed
What happens when the makers stop? When the engines all go still? When the hands that used to build the road No longer have the will?
When every win needs an apology Every profit needs defence And those who never made a thing Decide what making's worth to them?
You can divide what's on the table Till there's nothing left to share But somebody had to build the table Somebody put it there
So call it greed If that's the word you choose Call achievement exploitation When there's nothing left to lose
But I know every sleepless night Every failure, every scar Every frightened first investment That brought us where we are
Give me neither crown nor favour Give me room enough to breathe
Let me make Let me risk Let me build Let me achieve
And if I make a living Making something people need You can call it what you like You can call it greed
They loved the dream Before it paid They loved the fight Before we made it
Funny how success can change The words that people use
I didn't take it from you You were always free to choose
They called it greed I called it building something