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Burnin' It Up (2016)
Released Feb. 12, 2016
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About this Song

New music video from the Mike Adams takes aim at worker burnout, the precarious oil economy and finding happiness by exiting the rat race.

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Song Credits

Lyrics and lead vocals by Mike Adams. Animations courtesy of Liam Scheff. Music beats courtesy of Shockwave-Sound.com

All songs and music videos copyright © 2025 by Mike Adams, all rights reserved. These songs are unique compositions consisting of original lyrics and the composition and arrangement of numerous audio clips. May be freely downloaded and enjoyed for personal, non-commercial use. For commercial licensing, please contact us.

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Lyrics

Burnin' It Up
Oh, man!
Runnin' on empty again
Good thing gas is cheap
But somehow
We still can't afford it

(Verse 1)
Rollin' down the highway
Commuting Monday through Friday
I'm using' up the gas tank
Every 2 days
So I keep on fillin' it up
My home base and my work place
They're an hour apart on the good days
It's a rat race but the job pays
So I keep on burnin' it up

Like a fool

(Chorus 1)
I want the big house, I want the big car
Livin' in the 'burbs you can never get too far
I put the gas on my fifteen credit cards
Keep on burnin' it up

Pumpin' in the drive through
I'm just alive to
Be another sucker consumer
A 9-to-5 to pay the dues
But I wanna survive too
Keep on burnin' it up, yeah, burnin' it up

The more gas I burn going to work
The more I'm getting ahead!

(Verse 2)
A weekday is a work day
Driving my kids to their schoolday
And then I take the highway
To my low-pay job where I
Keep on burnin' it up.
I race to another place to
Pick up some gas just to waste
To keep on using my time
It's a lifetime
Of back and forth burnin' it up.

(Chorus 2)
I want the big house, I want the big car
Livin' in the 'burbs you can never get too far
I put the gas on my fifteen credit cards
Keep on burnin' it up

The days go by, I don't know why
I never seem to be moving ahead when I try
All the energy wells are gonna run dry
Keep in burnin' it up, burnin' it up

(Interlude rap)
Y'all chill out everybody relax
When the oil runs out many things will collapse
But that don't mean we won't have a plan of attack
We gotta grow our own food and work our own backs
And lay some new tracks while we livin' it up
Cuz if it runs on gas you'll be givin' it up
Well whatever we have you know it's never enough
That's why we keep on burnin' it up, yeah, burnin' it up

Just keep workin' your job
And pay your taxes
And don't worry because
Everything's gonna be just fine
We promise

(Verse 3)
My driving, is declining
Cuz I bought a new bike just for riding
And then I sold my SUV to a guy like me
Who wants to keep burnin' it up
I quit my job, I reject the mob
I'm livin' on less and I'm happy
But then my friends don't get it
They can't believe I did it
I've had enough of burnin' it up

Burnin' it up
Burnin' it up
Keep on burnin' it up

Like rats in a maze
With your mind in a media-induced haze
Slippin' away your minutes and hours and days
Whatever you earn, whatever you save
Whatever you put away
They're just gonna take it from you
Because they can
Because they own the system
They own YOU
They own all the oil companies
All the banks
And every branch of government
And one day
They're gonna accidentally
BURN IT ALL DOWN

Artist Commentary

As a creator of socially-conscious music, I'm thrilled to announce the release of my 16th song and music video today! It's a song that's rich with powerful wake up calls on many levels.

The song starts out with a critical look at the foolishness of today's fossil fuel economy, but it quickly explores deeper issues for society such as "worker burnout" and how we're all "rats in a maze" working for a system that's exhausting us while confiscating all our earnings and savings.

Later in the song, I explore themes of living a more self-reliant life by giving up the foolish dream of owning a bigger house and bigger car. A key message in the song is all about how I'm "living on less and I'm happy." This is a crucial awakening that people need to realize in order to exit the rat race and find happiness in being a human being rather than functioning as a cog in the corporate borg machine.

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