*NDUSTRY BOYS

Boyband of the Industrial Revolution

This is a project I did for my World History class during my sophomore year of high school. We were studying the Industrial Revolution and had to create a music group and make an album of songs about the Industrial Revolution. We could either write our own songs or parody songs. I chose to make a boyband and parody boyband songs. So here they are. They’re not meant to be funny, but my teacher thought they were clever.

My Power Loom

(to the tune of “My Everything” by 98 Degrees)

The water frame, it spun so fast

Needed a quick weaving process

The flying shuttle was not enough

To meet the great demand for cloth

But I, Cartwright, the minister

Made a new loom that went faster

It used water to power it

And it never seemed to quit

You are my power loom

Nothing that you can’t do

You don’t fit in a home

So in a mill you’ll go

You weave the thread right through

When nothing else will do

And I’m glad that I invented you

Cause you will always be my power loom

Now all our problems were resolved

Our need for fast weaving was solved

My power loom, it worked to help

The price of cotton go down

And as the demand for cloth increased

More people came to work in factories

So they had jobs, and they had clothes

Because of my loom, you know

You are my power loom

Nothing that you can’t do

You don’t fit in a home

So in a mill you’ll go

You weave the thread right through

When nothing else will do

And I’m glad that I invented you

Cause you will always be my power loom

It’s Gonna Be Steam

(to the tune of “It’s Gonna Be Me” by ‘N Sync)

It’s gonna be steam

Ooh yeah

You might have heard, babe

That we’re deprived

Our energy comes and goes

Oh, our sources just aren’t good

So we need to find some other thing

That makes energy

Every source of energy

Never seems enough for me

Wind, water, and animals

Are not reliable

A new source of energy

Is what we need

Guess what

It’s gonna be steam

Thomas Newcomen

Made his own steam engine

Cause he knows there ain’t no time to waste

People just need energy

And Newcomen, he knows

It’s gonna be steam

You can’t deny

That he might be right

Every source of energy

Never seems enough for me

Wind, water, and animals

Are not reliable

A new source of energy

Is what we need

Guess what

It’s gonna be steam

Ooh yeah

There comes a day

When everyone will see

It’s gonna, gonna, gonna, gonna, gonna

It’s gonna be steam

All the energy

Is not enough for me

Wind and animals

Not reliable

New energy

Is what we need

Guess what

Every source of energy

Never seems enough for me

Wind, water, and animals

Are not reliable

A new source of energy

Is what we need

Guess what

It’s gonna be steam

Get Another Engine

(to the tune of “Get Another Boyfriend” by Backstreet Boys)

Let’s talk about Newcomen

He made a steam engine

Powerful and dependable

A good invention

But it was too expensive

For men to operate

So people started looking

For an alternate

I’m telling you

People started looking

For another steam engine

Newcomen’s steam engine

There’s not much that it’s worthy of

It’s good at pumping water

But way too expensive to run

It’s done enough

Now it must come to an end

Get another engine

Then along came James Watt

A Scottish engineer

He studied Newcomen’s engine

For almost ten years

He added a new chamber

And made more improvements

And in 1769

He had his own steam engine

I’m telling you

In 1769

He had his own steam engine

Newcomen’s steam engine

There’s not much that it’s worthy of

It’s good at pumping water

But way too expensive to run

It’s done enough

Now it must come to an end

Get another engine

The Hardest Part of Industry

(to the tune of “The Hardest Part of Breaking Up” by 2Ge+her)

We’ve worked so hard in this factory

So long since we’ve been really free

We really hate being in this place

But if we don’t work, then we can’t get paid

We’ve worked here since we were only five

The only thing we’re glad of is that we’re still alive

Think we ain’t working hard enough?

We ain’t no slackers, but it’s really tough

We work a long hard day

And barely get paid

The hardest part of industry

Is in the factory

So tell us now, do we have to say please

Or will you please just consider our needs?

The factories are not safe enough

You need to make rules that will protect us

People get hurt her all the time

If you don’t do something soon, we will go on strike

Think we ain’t working hard enough?

We ain’t no slackers, but it’s really tough

We work a long hard day

And barely get paid

The hardest part of industry

Is in the factory

Yeah, yeah, yeah

You and me work in the factories

Just need a way to feed our families

We wish we had some jobs that we enjoy

But in this period, there just ain’t much choice

Think we ain’t working hard enough?

We ain’t no slackers, but it’s really tough

We work a long hard day

And barely get paid

The hardest part of industry

Is in the factory

We Want More Pay

(to the tune of “I Want It That Way” by Backstreet Boys)

We are deserving

Cause we’re hardworking

Listen when we say

We want more pay

We work fourteen hours

A day, all year round

That is why we say

We want more pay

Tell me why

You treat us so unfairly
Tell me why

You won’t listen to our pleas

Tell me why

You never want to hear us say

We want more pay

If we don’t get what we want

We will go on strike

So listen before it’s too late

We want more pay

Tell me why

You treat us so unfairly
Tell me why

You won’t listen to our pleas

Tell me why

You never want to hear us say

We want more pay

Now I can se that it’s getting better

From the way that it used to be, yeah

We’re forming a union to get what we want

So you better listen to me

We are deserving

Cause we’re hardworking

We are, we are, we are, we are

Don’t want to hear us say…

You treat us so unfairly

You won’t listen to our pleas

You never want to hear us say

We want more pay

Tell me why

You treat us so unfairly
Tell me why

You won’t listen to our pleas

Tell me why

You never want to hear us say

We want more pay

Fly, Fly, Fly

(to the tune of “Bye, Bye, Bye” by ‘N Sync)

Hey, hey

Fly, fly, fly

We are the brothers Wright

And we took the first flight

Cause we knew it was right

For people to fly

We worked endlessly

And in 1903

We flew our own plane

At Kitty Hawk

We know that you might not believe

But it ain’t no lie

We made our very own plane and

It can fly, fly, fly

Fly, fly

We had to really study

Aerodynamics – it was the key

Might sound crazy, but it ain’t no lie

We can fly, fly, fly

Theory on Life

(to the tune of “Larger Than Life” by Backstreet Boys)

You may think that God

Created our race, alright

But let me tell you now

That is just not the case, alright

All of us humans evolved from the apes

All you people, can’t you see, can’t you see?

That we are descended from monkeys

In a species, the strongest will survive

And that’s Darwin’s theory on life

Studying some birds

In the Galapagos Islands, come on

Darwin formed his theory

Of natural selection, come on

All of his time spent on evolution

All you people, can’t you see, can’t you see?

That we are descended from monkeys

In a species, the strongest will survive

And that’s Darwin’s theory on life

All of his time spent on evolution

All you people, can’t you see, can’t you see?

That we are descended from monkeys

In a species, the strongest will survive

And that’s Darwin’s theory on life

Yeah, in a species

Yeah, the strongest will survive

Yeah, that is Darwin’s theory on life

Yeah, yeah

All you people, can’t you see, can’t you see?

That we are descended from monkeys

In a species, the strongest will survive

And that’s Darwin’s theory

That’s Darwin’s theory

That’s Darwin’s theory on life

Ó 2001

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