My Gen X Playlist: Price Tag – Jessie J

A woman I worked with once started an office collection for lottery tickets. The lottery hit some astronomical amount and she thought it would be fun for the office to play together. I watched people come by and give her a few bucks to sign up. It was a pretty steady flow throughout the day.

In the afternoon our regional president stopped by her desk. Not too long before , he sent the corporate guidelines to the office that included rules about gambling. Lottery tickets violated corporate policy.

“Looks like you have an office pool for the lottery there,” he said in a serious tone.

Frightened, she just shook her head yes. Then there was this long, uncomfortable, awkward pause. Her eyes fell to the floor as she anxiously awaiting her fate.

Then he smiled.

“Well, here’s my five bucks. If we win, I’m not going to be left behind. Let’s all walk out together!”

You could feel her sigh of relief. Needless to say we didn’t win, but the couple bucks gave us a day to daydream about what we would do with our riches. It was worth it.

If I won the lottery, hopefully it would be anonymous outside close family members. Only a few things might change. I’d still drive the same car, but maybe buy a new one in a couple of years. I’d live in the same place. I’d pay off my mortgage, though. That would be nice. My wardrobe wouldn’t change much. I’d definitely quit my job, or rather, find a new one that provided more internal rewards. Travel? Sure, add that to the list. I’d also set aside a little bit for my Vegas fund. I think I’d have fun investing the rest or using it to do some good in the world. Other than that, I’d still live my regular guy, low key life. I’d prefer to be the millionaire next door without anybody being the wiser.

I heard Jessie J’s Price Tag when contestants sung it acapella on a TV show. It sounded vaguely familiar and I looked it up online. Jessie J is pretty talented and the link I’ve added is for a stripped down acoustic version of the song. 

The song lyrics encourage people to embrace their true selves and not let material possessions or wealth define their worth.

In an interview with MTV, Jessie J said:

“I think the song is more about the state of the world at the moment. It’s very material-driven right now. A lot of people judge people by what they have and what they don’t have, and sometimes it’s more about needing to breathe, needing to smile, needing to be happy.”

– OldTimeMusic

Breathe. Smile. Be happy. I can get on board with that recipe. Sign me up.

–

For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Seems like everybody's got a price
I wonder how they sleep at night
When the sale comes first and the truth comes second
Just stop for a minute and smile 
Why is everybody so serious?
Acting so damn mysterious?
Got your shades on your eyes
And your heels so high that you can't even have a good time

Everybody look to their left 
Everybody look to their right
Can you feel that? Yeah
We're paying with love tonight

It's not about the money, money, money
We don't need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance
Forget about the price tag
Ain't about the, uh, cha-ching, cha-ching
Ain't about the, yeah, ba-bling, ba-bling
Wanna make the world dance
Forget about the price tag 

Okay
We need to take it back in time
When music made us all unite
And it wasn't low blows and video hoes
Am I the only one getting tired? 
Why is everybody so obsessed?
Money can't buy us happiness
Can we all slow down and enjoy right now?
Guarantee we'll be feeling alright

Everybody look to their left (To their left)
Everybody look to their right (To their right)
Can you feel that? Yeah
We're paying with love tonight

It's not about the money, money, money
We don't need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance
Forget about the price tag
Ain't about the, uh, cha-ching, cha-ching
Ain't about the, yeah, ba-bling, ba-bling
Wanna make the world dance
Forget about the price tag

[B.o.B:]
Yeah, yeah, well, keep the price tag and take the cash back
Just give me six strings (Six strings) and a half-stack (Half-stack)
And you can, can keep the cars, leave me the garage
And all I, yes, all I need are keys and guitars
And guess what? In thirty seconds, I'm leaving to Mars
Yeah, we leaping across these undefeatable odds
It's like this, man, you can't put a price on a life
We do this for the love, so we fight and sacrifice every night
So we ain't gon' stumble and fall, never
Waiting to see this in the sign of defeat, uh-uh
So we gon' keep everyone moving their feet
So bring back the beat and then everyone sing
It's not about the money

[Jessie J (B.o.B):]
It's not about the money, money, money
We don't need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance
Forget about the price tag
Ain't about the, uh, cha-ching, cha-ching
Ain't about the, yeah, ba-bling, ba-bling
Wanna make the world dance
Forget about the price tag (Hey! Hey!)
It's not about the money, money, money (We don't need it)
We don't need your money, money, money (No, I don't, we don't need it)
We just wanna make the world dance (Dance, dance your ass off)
Forget about the price tag (Ah, ah)
Ain't about the, yea-yeah!, cha-ching, cha-ching
Ain't about the, woo!, ba-bling, ba-bling (It ain't about)
Wanna make the world dance (Yeah, yeah)
Forget about the price tag

[Jessie J:]
Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahh
Yeah, yeah, ahh, ooh-ooh, ahh
Forget about the price tag, heh