Money (That's What I Want)  

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The best things in life are free
But you can give them to the birds and bees
I want money
That's what I want

--"Money (That's What I Want)" (1959) by Barrett Strong

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"Money (That's What I Want)" (1959) is a musical composition written by Berry Gordy and Janie Bradford and first recorded by Barrett Strong . It was the first hit record for Gordy's Motown enterprise.

It was famously covered by the Flying Lizards in 1979.

The song was listed as #288 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

"I Need Some Money"

"I Need Some Money," a song John Lee Hooker may have been performing live for some time previous to 1959, has lyrics that are more than coincidentally similar to "Money (That's What I Want)". For example, even though the music is different, the first verses are:

"The best thing in life is free
But you can give it to the birds an' bees
I need some money, Need some money. Oh yeah, what I want"

versus:

"The best things in life are free
But you can keep 'em for the birds and bees
Now give me money, (that's what I want) that's what I want."

The question of which lyrics came first never seems to have been settled in any formal way; John Lee Hooker has full composition credits for this song, and it has been independently covered by other artists such as James Blood Ulmer and The Doors.




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Money (That's What I Want)" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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