[Intro: lone slide guitar, one voice, porch-quiet] Oprah Winfrey. Kosciusko, Mississippi. Nineteen fifty-four. Poor as the dirt road. (Mm hm.) Watch where the name goes. [Verse 1: band creeps in, still Delta] Born with nothing on the Mississippi side, Milwaukee winter, then the Nashville nights, Seventies newsroom, reading what they wrote, Their camera, their clock, their check in her coat. North like the old folks went before, Chicago in the eighties, and the city tuned in more, Every house on the block had her in the den, Talking to the country like a kitchen full of friends. [Pre-Chorus] Station got a star, and everybody could see, Star had a question, asked it quiet and clean: Whose pen is it? (Whose pen?) Whose name on the line? (Whose name?) Who's working for who When the red light shines? [Hook: guitar goes electric, horns hit] SIGN THE CHECKS! (Oprah signed the checks.) Slide that pen to your side of the desk. SIGN THE CHECKS! (Oprah signed the checks.) Let the house work on your payroll next. SIGN THE CHECKS! (Nineteen eighty-six.) Mississippi girl signed the checks. [Verse 2] Eighty-six she stood up a company, Her name on the show and her hand on the wheel, Took the papers that carry it to every city, Hired a seller to sell it. Seller. That's the whole deal. (That's the whole deal.) Every station that bought it, the check found her books, The seller got paid for the miles that he took. Eighty-eight, October, the network let it go, Her company ran production. Her company ran the show. Folks say a salary did it. Salary's what the house pays the help. Read the paper back. Check the signature. Her company. Her pen. Herself. [Hook] SIGN THE CHECKS! (Oprah signed the checks.) Slide that pen to your side of the desk. SIGN THE CHECKS! (Oprah signed the checks.) Let the house work on your payroll next. SIGN THE CHECKS! (Nineteen eighty-six.) Mississippi girl signed the checks. [Bridge: band drops, slide guitar and voice] Tell it straight, now. Three networks. One afternoon. Whole country in the same room. That room is gone. (That room is gone.) She had the people before she had the pen. Nobody slides you the desk Till the crowd walks in behind you. So get the crowd. Then ask for the pen. [Verse 3: full band, low and direct] Now look at your work. Who's holding the pen? Who keeps the customer's number when the job's at an end? You do the work and the app keeps the crowd, That's the talent chair. You sitting in it now. Start where you are. Start this week. Every name that pays you, write it down, keep the sheet. When they'd cross town just to find you again, Hire a carrier, pay him for the miles, then pick up the pen. [Final Hook: full band, horns up] SIGN THE CHECKS! (Oprah signed the checks.) Slide that pen to your side of the desk. SIGN THE CHECKS! (From Kosciusko, Mississippi.) Let the house work on your payroll next. SIGN THE CHECKS! (Your turn now.) Pick up the pen. Sign the checks. [Outro: slide guitar alone] Kosciusko. Poor as the dirt road. Her name went on the show. Her company went on the paper. Watch where yours goes.
