[Verse 1]
Back in nineteen seventy-one
Nixon closed the golden door
No more dollars backed by gold
Changed the world forevermore
Bretton Woods was falling down
Fixed rates couldn't stay around
When the gold window slammed shut tight
Everything would be alright... or would it?
[Chorus]
Seventy-three, the breaking point
Fixed rates failed at every joint
When confidence starts to shake
Pegs will bend until they break
Seventy-three, regime change year
Market forces drawing near
From fixed to flexible we go
That's the way the money flows
[Verse 2]
Currency pegs tried to hold
But the pressure was too bold
When traders smell a coming break
Massive bets they start to make
Selling pounds and deutsche marks
Central banks ran out of sparks
Self-fulfilling prophecy
If you think it breaks, it's free
[Chorus]
Seventy-three, the breaking point
Fixed rates failed at every joint
When confidence starts to shake
Pegs will bend until they break
Seventy-three, regime change year
Market forces drawing near
From fixed to flexible we go
That's the way the money flows
[Bridge]
Canada, US, worldwide shift
Exchange rates start to drift
No more anchors to the gold
Market stories now unfold
Confidence dynamics rule
Speculation's powerful tool
Once the doubt begins to spread
Fixed rate systems wind up dead
[Verse 3]
Oil crisis hit that year
Made the new world crystal clear
Floating currencies must adapt
To the shocks that leave us trapped
Economic paradigm
Shifted right before our time
From the golden standard days
To the market's changing ways
[Final Chorus]
Seventy-three, the breaking point
Fixed rates failed at every joint
When confidence starts to shake
Pegs will bend until they break
Seventy-three, regime change year
Market forces drawing near
From fixed to flexible we go
That's the way the money flows
That's the way the money flows
[Outro]
Remember nineteen seventy-three
When currencies broke free