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Ad Valorem

from Songs of Mesabi by Greg Tiburzi

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about

The Ad Valorem tax enabled communities to tax the steel companies not just on the ore they were removing, but also on the ore still in the ground. This went a long way toward helping the towns pay their bills and put up the beautiful buildings we see today. As long as they were giving up the very ground they walked on, the locals were going to get something in return! When you make a deal with the devil you ask for everything.

lyrics

Ad Valorem

When you make a deal with the devil, you keep your cards close in
When you make a deal with the devil, you keep your cards close in
He can see through mountains, he will sense when you are bluffin'
You've got your dues a-comin', he is addin' up your sins
Remember all you gamblers, it's the house that always wins

When you make a deal with the devil, you think about your kids
When you make a deal with the devil, you think about your kids
They'll be the ones left wiping up the spills you've left for them
Get all that you've got comin', when you make your bid
Tax him on the visible, and all that remains hid

When you make a deal with the devil, you ask for everything
When you make a deal with the devil, you ask for everything
'cause he'll leave you holes to ponder, and rubble helter-skelter,
with no sense of shelter, huddled underneath his wing,
wrapped around his finger, hanging by a string

(coda)
When you make a deal with the devil, deal with the devil,
deal with the devil, deal with the devil
When you make a deal with the devil, it's the house that always wins

credits

from Songs of Mesabi, released June 14, 2022

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about

Greg Tiburzi Duluth, Minnesota

Inspired by pop radio, the American songbook, folk and world music, and rock from Chuck Berry on, Greg Tiburzi blends guitar and harmonica to back his compositions of loss, redemption, and fragility of the human condition. He reveres the healing quality of music, the ability to lift and better connect us to each other, our surroundings, and ourselves. ... more

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