Dollar Seventy More

This track was born from a real headline: The overnight sticker shock at gas pumps across rural America as prices jumped from $2.93 to $3.70 in weeks. Muckraker's country production gives the story the weight of a front-page exclusive — journalism you can feel in your chest. Lines like "Diesel rigs are parked along the shoulder of I-35," anchor the track in specifics that generic coverage misses. The mood — weary, defiant, heartland grit — reflects the emotional reality behind the numbers. Every Majik's Studio news track exists to make you feel the story, not just read it.

[verse 1] Pulled into the Conoco off Route 14, saw the sign flash numbers I ain't never seen. Two-ninety-three last Tuesday, now it's three-seventy-four, my Ford is begging mercy, but the war wants more. Mama called from Tulsa, said her heating bill doubled down, Daddy sold the bass boat just to keep the lights on in town. I punched the clock at six a.m., punched out well past dark, but half my check evaporates before I even park. Fifty-two miles one way on this cracked county road, every mile a dollar bill falling from my load. The radio says conflict, says the Strait is running hot, but all I know is what I got is less than what I thought. [chorus] Dollar seventy more, dollar seventy more, that's a baby's box of diapers, that's a bag of groceries for sure. Dollar seventy more, dollar seventy more, they call it foreign policy, we call it being poor. Dollar seventy more, dollar seventy more, and we're the ones who pay it at the pump and at the store. [verse 2] Little league starts Saturday, Caleb needs new cleats, but I'm staring at the Visa bill and skipping meals to eat. Diesel rigs are parked along the shoulder of I-35, drivers doing math and wondering how they'll survive. Shelves at Dollar General looking thinner every week, bread went up a dollar, milk's at six a gallon peak. Gov'nor's on the TV saying "patience, stay the course," but patience doesn't fill the tank of my two-thousand-eight Ford. Sara took a second job at the diner after school, she's seventeen and picking up a shift 'cause that's the rule when the world decides your family's just a rounding error lost in the distance between a barrel price and what it really cost. [chorus] Dollar seventy more, dollar seventy more, that's a baby's box of diapers, that's a bag of groceries for sure. Dollar seventy more, dollar seventy more, they call it foreign policy, we call it being poor. Dollar seventy more, dollar seventy more, and we're the ones who pay it at the pump and at the store. [bridge] Somewhere in the Pentagon they're moving pins on maps, somewhere in the Hormuz Strait the tanker channel snaps. Somewhere in a living room in Abilene tonight, a woman counts her coins beneath the kitchen light. She don't know the politics, don't know the battle plan, she just knows the price of living ain't what it was, man. [chorus] Dollar seventy more, dollar seventy more, that's a baby's box of diapers, that's a bag of groceries for sure. Dollar seventy more, dollar seventy more, they call it foreign policy, we call it being poor. Dollar seventy more, dollar seventy more, and we're the ones who pay it at the pump and at the store. [outro] Dollar seventy more... dollar seventy more... we just wanted to get by, but they keep moving the floor.