After extensive research I have discovered that the perpetrator of the song “It’s all about the money” is a lady who goes by the name of Meja. She is Swedish. Wikipedia says her real name is Anna Pernilla Bäckman but that’s not important. The lyrics of the song are important – crucially important – to understanding the General Decline of Everything. Here’s a sample:
“It’s all about the money
It’s all about the dum dum du du du dum”
Nothing wrong with that.* Lou Reed was always partial to a little doo doo wah’s and when he sings la la la la la la on “Sweet Jane,” well… But Meja is no Lou Reed. Her song continues:
“I don’t think it’s funny”
“Money” and “funny” has to be the most banal rhyme in the English language (how lucky we are that nothing rhymes with “love.”) It’s a linguistic trap lying in wait for poetasters and Miss Meja danced straight into it. Look how Pink Floyd elegantly flirted with and skirted around the same problem on Dark Side of the Moon:
“Money, its a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash”
See how they tease you? Gas means “funny” but it doesn’t rhyme with money. Instead they pull off a partial rhyme with “stash” – which means “money.”

It might seem unfair to compare Pink Floyd with Meja. After all, one is just pop, the other is lumbering prog rock. But “pop” means “popular” and Dark Side of the Moon sold millions. The only conclusion that can reasonably be drawn from this wide-ranging study is that modern life is, indeed, rubbish.

I spend far too much time in buses being exposed to commercial Polish radio.

*Actually, if you’ve heard her you will know that there is plenty wrong with that.