“Money’s Our God, it makes our decisions    

Pearl-Zoe Speaks

If Money’s Our God, I want a new religion” 

 -Zoe Speaks

 Not all songs and musicians have a message. Disco and hip-hop are prime examples of message-less music. It is a generational thing, but I love disco and hate hip-hop. 

 I am hooked on the pop music of Eric Carman 30 years after his heyday.   There is no message in “Hey Deanie” and none worth mentioning in “Going All the Way”, but I listen to Eric almost every day.

 Eric set out to make popular music. Nothing else.

 Zoe Speaks are a duo with a message. The song “Money’s Our God” epitomizes their beliefs.  It is on their Pearl album. 

I am not opposed to money. In fact, I like it a lot. I’ve spent most of my life helping people with money and have been well compensated for it.  I traded my Cadillac for a Lexus and won’t whine about materialism. I’m as caught up as anyone else.

Money provides safety and security and protects families. Money can give you a nice place to live, help you educate your children, and allow you to enjoy life.

Zoe Speaks touches on the darker side of money: they point out that it can become an all-consuming obsession. Just like an addiction to sex, drugs, food or alcohol, the love of money can take over your life.

There is a line in the song that says, “I fall down on my bills and pray, we get out of this debt someday.”

That is a problem that way too many Americans face.

Bill Hybels, who heads the Willow Street Church in Chicago, wrote in Christians in the Marketplace that if you spend all of your time and effort focused on paying for a car, house, or other material possession, then that object has become your God.

Zoe Speaks said in a three-minute song what Hybels took 100 pages to write.

I see how money brings out the best and the worst in people. I have seen see families devote their lives and sacrifice everything to assist an injured loved one. Yet at the same time, I have seen see family and “friends” whose only goal in life is to get their hands on the victim’s money.

Money may be some people’s God, but it is a God that does not always have a heaven and may often have a hell.  

There is a rapidly growing field called Psycho-Economics, which studies the relationship between the mind and money. More people are trying to figure out why some people meet their financial goals and others with the same resources and opportunities do not.

Most who come into sudden wealth, like lottery winners or people that inherit large sums, do not lead happier lives than those who do not.  

Somewhere along the way, people need to figure out what makes them happy. Material possessions and financial security may not be everything.

It seems like Zoe Speaks are  practicing what they are preaching. 

If making money were their main priority, it would be easy for Zoe Speaks to change their style and cash in big.

Bob Dylan abandoned folk music, went electric, and became richer and more famous than ever. Zoe Speaks could follow the same lead and dive into pop music.

I could see them making music videos and hosting the MTV awards.  Instead of playing at the Fourth of July festival in Berea, Kentucky, they could be on television sharing the stage with Madonna, Britney Spears, and 50 Cent.

They could start with a dance version of “Money’s Our God” and then segue right into “Material Girl.” They could roll around on the stage like Madonna used to do.

Outside their concerts in football stadiums and large arenas, vendors would be selling Zoe Speaks DVDs, gold chains, and bobble-head dolls. 

I don’t see it happening.  They will stay with the style of music that has made them successful and most importantly, happy.