“We’re Hip” is the fifth track off the Collective’s first album. It was written by Jake Lampert and Debbie Lempke.
Liner Notes:
I wrote the words to We’re Hip when I was feeling the pull of many forces on women’s music. Jake had been offered a high paying job in a commercial ‘allgirl’ band. There are so many difficult decisions to make in choosing where to put one’s energy. What I’m saying in the song is listen to your own inner voice and don’t get taken in by the advertising. The last verse was written after the band played at the California Institute for Women (the California women’s prison). I was incredibly inspired by the determination for change I felt from the women there. Many were facing indeterminate sentencing; a practice that keeps the prisoner in constant apprehension about her release date.
Lyrics:
Got your chance for a lot of money
Turn your back and they treat you funny
We’re hip to the bossman’s game
Sell your soul get yourself some fame
Gonna try to buy the women out
Gonna prey on our fears and doubts
We’re hip to the bossman’s game
Get together ’cause we’re not to blame
We’ve got to get away from the things that they say
And they say every day of your life
Sometimes you ain’t got much to choose from
You need a job and they know that you could use one
Stay hip to the bossman’s game
They keep you caged up to make you tame
And in the prisons i’ve seen our sisters rising
They ain’t been wasting they’ve been organizing
They’re hip to the bossman’s game
When they get out they’re gonna spark the flame