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Landing a big AI job isn’t quite the life-changing boon one might assume amid the boom hype.
(Verse 1)
Well I got scooped up in a lobby where the kombucha flows for free,
By a shiny glass cathedral with a logo like my girl Etta’s “G,”
They said, “Son, you got the magic, you can teach the wires to think,”
Now I’m pacing midnight hallways with my conscience on the brink.
They gave me stock and promises in a language wrapped in gold,
Said, “You’ll be rich before you’re thirty,” but the options can’t be sold,
Now my landlord wants a raise and my cousin needs a loan,
Everybody thinks I’m minted ‘cause I type on company chrome.
(Chorus)
Oh, it’s the AI payday blues, baby, don’t you know the tune,
Got a million-dollar future that might vest sometime in June,
Everybody got their hand out like I’m sitting on a throne,
But my wallet’s just a rumor and my paycheck’s mostly loan.
(Verse 2)
Mama calls from Jersey sayin’, “You made the family proud,”
But she still clips coupons weekly, don’t believe the hype out loud,
Etta’s talkin’ wedding venues, sayin’, “Pick a better date,”
I just nod and fake a smile while I calculate my fate.
My buddies from the old days say I sold my soul for code,
While the drivers and the waiters say I paved a darker road,
They say, “You’re the reason I got cut, replaced by some machine,”
I say, “Buddy, I’m just patchin’ bugs inside a dream unseen.”
(Chorus)
Yeah, it’s the AI payday blues, sing it soft and sing it low,
I’m the villain in the future that I barely even know,
Got the world up on my shoulders and a balance sheet of dust,
Buildin’ brains that might erase me—tell me who I’m s’posed to trust?
(Verse 3)
Sometimes I think of drivin’ down with dumplings in the back,
For some late-night app delivery on a quiet Culver track,
No more dashboards full of metrics, no more models left to train,
Just a tip jar and a steering wheel and freedom from the brain.
But then I see Etta’s face and hear my mama’s hopeful sigh,
And the skyline made of money that I’m still too broke to buy,
So I badge into the building with my coffee and my doubt,
While the code I wrote last quarter’s tryin’ hard to phase me out.
(Chorus)
Oh, it’s the AI payday blues, hangin’ heavy on my chest,
Got a future made of maybe and a résumé that’s blessed,
If my ship don’t ever dock or if it sinks before it’s due,
I’ll be out here trainin’ ghosts that learned to do what I can do.
(Bridge)
Now the CEO’s on podcasts talkin’ ‘bout a brighter dawn,
While the janitor’s been laid off and the lights stay flickerin’ on,
Every headline says we’re savin’ time and buildin’ somethin’ grand,
But the clock keeps tickin’ louder in this silicon quicksand.
(Verse 4)
So I’m ridin’ out the options like a gambler on a streak,
With a badge that opens doors but leaves me feelin’ kinda weak,
If the payday ever hits or if the pink slip hits me first,
I’ll be hummin’ this old tune about the bubble and the burst.
(Final Chorus)
Yeah, it’s the AI payday blues, sing it crooked, sing it dry,
Got a ticket to the future but no clue what’s passin’ by,
If I make it to the summit or get buried in the code,
I’ll be just another worker on a self-replacin’ road.
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