[Verse 1]
In nineteen seventy-three, October came
The Middle East erupted into flame
A war began, then oil became a weapon
OPEC said "No more oil, learn your lesson"
[Verse 2]
The price of crude went up four times or more
From three dollars to twelve, then through the floor
Of what economies could handle well
A shock wave that no models could foretell
[Chorus]
Oil shock leads to debt shock, that's the way
When energy costs more, we cannot pay
Borrowed money flows like oil upstream
Breaking apart the economic dream
Oil shock, debt shock, vulnerability
The causal path to instability
[Verse 3]
When oil costs more, everything gets expensive
Transportation, heating, manufacturing intensive
Countries need more money just to run
So they borrow hard from anyone
[Verse 4]
Petrodollars flooding Western banks
Oil producers filling up their tanks
With cash they're lending back around
A recycling circle, dollar-bound
[Chorus]
Oil shock leads to debt shock, that's the way
When energy costs more, we cannot pay
Borrowed money flows like oil upstream
Breaking apart the economic dream
Oil shock, debt shock, vulnerability
The causal path to instability
[Bridge]
Higher oil means higher everything
Food and goods that daily living brings
Nations borrow just to stay afloat
Signing every international note
When the bills come due, they cannot pay
Debt crisis blows the old world away
[Chorus]
Oil shock leads to debt shock, that's the way
When energy costs more, we cannot pay
Borrowed money flows like oil upstream
Breaking apart the economic dream
Oil shock, debt shock, vulnerability
The causal path to instability
[Outro]
Nineteen seventy-three, the year it changed
When oil and debt became so interranged
The old regime could not survive the test
A new world order rising from the mess