This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
I wanna be a billionaire so fuckin' bad
Buy all of the things I never had
Uh, I wanna be on the cover of Forbes magazine
Smiling next to Oprah and the Queen
Oh, every time I close my eyes
I see my name in shining lights, yeah
A different city every night, oh I
I swear the world better prepare
For when I'm a billionaire
Yeah, I would have a show like Oprah
I would be the host of, everyday Christmas
Give Travie a wish list
I'd probably pull an Angelina and Brad Pitt
And adopt a bunch of babies that ain't never had shit
Give away a few Mercedes like here lady have this
And last but not least grant somebody their last wish
It's been a couple months that I've been single so
You can call me Travie Claus minus the Ho Ho
Get it, hehe, I'd probably visit where Katrina hit
And damn sure do a lot more than FEMA did
Yeah, can't forget about me stupid
Everywhere I go I'ma have my own theme music
Oh, every time I close my eyes (what you see, what you see?)
I see my name in shining lights, oh yeah-yeah (uh-huh, and what else?)
A different city every night, oh I (uh, yeah, yeah, yeah)
I swear the world better prepare (for what?)
For when I'm a billionaire
Oh-ooh, oh-ooh (oh), when I'm a billionaire
Oh-ooh, oh-ooh (let's go)
I'll be playing basketball with the President
Dunking on his delegates
Then I'll compliment him on his political etiquette
Toss a couple milli in the air just for the heck of it
But keep the five, twenties, tens, and Bens completely separate
And yeah, I'll be in a whole new tax bracket
We in recession but let me take a crack at it
I'll probably take whatever's left and just split it up
So everybody that I love can have a couple bucks
And not a single tummy around me would know what hungry was
Eating good sleeping soundly
I know we all have a similar dream
Go in your pocket, pull out your wallet
Put it in the air and sing
I wanna be a billionaire so fuckin' bad
Buy all of the things I never had, uh (buy everything, haha)
I wanna be on the cover of Forbes magazine
Smiling next to Oprah and the Queen (what up, Oprah?)
Oh, every time I close my eyes (what you see, what you see, bruh?)
I see my name in shining lights, oh yeah-yeah (uh-huh, and what else?)
A different city every night, oh I
I swear the world better prepare (for what?)
For when I'm a billionaire (yeah)
Oh-ooh, oh-ooh (sing it)
When I'm a billionaire
Oh-ooh, oh-ooh (oh)
I wanna be a billionaire (uh-huh)
So fuckin' bad
Buy all of the things I never had
Uh, I wanna be on the cover of Forbes magazine
Smiling next to Oprah and the Queen
Oh, every time I close my eyes
I see my name in shining lights, yeah
A different city every night, oh I
I swear the world better prepare
For when I'm a billionaire
Yeah, I would have a show like Oprah
I would be the host of, everyday Christmas
Give Travie a wish list
I'd probably pull an Angelina and Brad Pitt
And adopt a bunch of babies that ain't never had shit
Give away a few Mercedes like here lady have this
And last but not least grant somebody their last wish
It's been a couple months that I've been single so
You can call me Travie Claus minus the Ho Ho
Get it, hehe, I'd probably visit where Katrina hit
And damn sure do a lot more than FEMA did
Yeah, can't forget about me stupid
Everywhere I go I'ma have my own theme music
Oh, every time I close my eyes (what you see, what you see?)
I see my name in shining lights, oh yeah-yeah (uh-huh, and what else?)
A different city every night, oh I (uh, yeah, yeah, yeah)
I swear the world better prepare (for what?)
For when I'm a billionaire
Oh-ooh, oh-ooh (oh), when I'm a billionaire
Oh-ooh, oh-ooh (let's go)
I'll be playing basketball with the President
Dunking on his delegates
Then I'll compliment him on his political etiquette
Toss a couple milli in the air just for the heck of it
But keep the five, twenties, tens, and Bens completely separate
And yeah, I'll be in a whole new tax bracket
We in recession but let me take a crack at it
I'll probably take whatever's left and just split it up
So everybody that I love can have a couple bucks
And not a single tummy around me would know what hungry was
Eating good sleeping soundly
I know we all have a similar dream
Go in your pocket, pull out your wallet
Put it in the air and sing
I wanna be a billionaire so fuckin' bad
Buy all of the things I never had, uh (buy everything, haha)
I wanna be on the cover of Forbes magazine
Smiling next to Oprah and the Queen (what up, Oprah?)
Oh, every time I close my eyes (what you see, what you see, bruh?)
I see my name in shining lights, oh yeah-yeah (uh-huh, and what else?)
A different city every night, oh I
I swear the world better prepare (for what?)
For when I'm a billionaire (yeah)
Oh-ooh, oh-ooh (sing it)
When I'm a billionaire
Oh-ooh, oh-ooh (oh)
I wanna be a billionaire (uh-huh)
So fuckin' bad
Lyrics submitted by tugboatlove1
Billionaire Lyrics as written by Peter Gene Hernandez Ari Levine
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is actually a pretty smart commentary on recent events and the disappointment and frustration with Bush followed by Obama:
The lines about Fema and then the reference to playing basketball with Obama and his better etiquette followed by "toss a couple milli in the air just for the heck of it" and keeping the different denominations of money separate - a reference to the stimulus that didn't seem to have a coherent focus and giving big money to some (banks) and peanuts to everyone else.
But when he talks about what HE would do, it's totally different. 1) he would visit where Katrina hit and actually help the people. He would take his money and adopt kids that don't have shit, fulfill someone's last wish, divide it up among his friends, and make sure no one goes hungry - exactly what people DON'T do when they have money but what they should do. In other words, focus on people and not himself. He's pointing out hypocrisy with the self-absorption of the chorus, which is about putting himself in the limelight.