We Sell Everything
A fast-paced comedy number which presents a technical challenge to the singer. "We Sell Everything" is the song of the door-to-door salesman, whose cause is to deluge the people of the world with all and any junk he can get them to buy, whether they need it or not. Leon cleverly couples products with opposite effects - such road drills and ear plugs, or life insurance and cigarettes. (An amusing detail comes via the 'doorbell' guitar harmonic, presumably from Martin Carthy.) The song reminds us that consumer goods are manufactured and marketed for the sake of the sellers, rather than us, the consumers.
“A song that could have been written at any time in my songwriting life and one that is always in tune with the times. It’s also a song that never fails, perhaps because, rather than a full-frontal attack, I had the good sense to frame this picture of a society where everything can be packaged, marketed, bought and sold in a story about my encounter with a door-to-door salesman. I believe this song has been used as a teaching aid for an Open University course in economics.” - LR (sleevenotes to The World Turned Upside Down (CD box set), p25)
Recordings
Version 1 (1977)
Version 2 (2011) Live performance, released in 2014
Version 2 (2011) Live performance, released in 2014