Produced by John Peacock, Right Thing is taken from the EP Work (Alien Kabaret). It's about why we do things.
songwriter
uk
edinburgh
taylor
woodstock
Story behind the song
Right Thing is my response to bureaucracy, among other things. As my brother-in-law says, things are usually not so much an intergalactic conspiracy as a series of cock-ups and minor justifications. It's also, obviously, about wondering why people do things. Big things or little things. We had loads of fun sampling mobile phones, keys and bits of paper to provide the sound colour on this one.
Lyrics
RIGHT THING
(for all the wrong reasons)
? Woodstock Taylor
Something's gotta give
Look at how we live
Everywhere you go they want another piece of you
So you keep fighting
Everything requires the proper paperwork
And you can't move because the place is always full
Of little people trying to do the right thing
For all the wrong reasons
Something's gotta give
Look at how we live
Every day the common round and daily task
Seem ever less inviting
What you started out to do got lost in the machinery
When someone with the best intentions
Thought they ought to try to do the right thing
For all the wrong reasons
Now ask yourself why you do what you do
What are you afraid of, and just who's controlling you?
Something's gotta give
Look at how we live
Whatever happened to communication?
Don't you find it frightening?
Nobody is honest just in case it's misinterpreted
So we just let the bad guys win 'cause we're too busy
Trying to do the right thing
For all the wrong reasons