My Newest Song: "Bailout"

Sometime jammin' produces results. A few nights ago, my friend Big Mike the bassplayer and I were playing. At a certain point, we strayed from the realm of familiar tunes we perform publicly and started jammin'. Before long, I was improvising lyrics over an upbeat slightly reggae groove, and out came a very pleasing chorus based on the word "bailout".

Have you heard that the term "bailout" was selected as the New Word of the Year for 2008? It's true. One of the major dictionary companies started the annual New Word Award to raise awareness of linguistic evolution and as a sort of literary counterpart to Time's Person of the Year Award.

Thanks to the tanking economy and our government's commitment to stemming the tide, bailout legislation is front page news. Now it seems like any industry in distress is asking for a bailout. The Big Three automakers' request for free money has, thankfully, not been that well received in the Beltway. But boy have the biggest financial institutions hit Congressional paydirt.

Unfortunately, for those millions of poor folks experiencing the worst kind of financial suffering, relief has been hard to come by. Apart from the measly $600 stimulus checks some have received, almost none of the middle and lower class has received meaningful help. Perhaps the new administration will find a more equitable means of addressing this issue.

In the meantime, I have taken poetic license to work the ironies of this national tragedy into a pretty darn catchy tune. It even has one of those choruses that folks can't help but sing along with, which is nice. Here are the lyrics to the chorus:

Bailout, bailout
Hey buddy can you spare a dime?
Bailout bailout
If your mortgage was subprime.
Bailout, bailout
Let's help the rich ones first.
Bailout bailout
So the economy won't get worse (that's what they tell us)

The song is equal parts Michael Franti and Graham Parker, two of my favorites, so thanks to them for the inspiration. Once I get "Bailout" down, maybe I'll post a video on this blog---I'd like you to hear it. Here's hoping that very few of you, my faithful readers, need a bailout and that you are in a position to offer needed help to those in distress. Happy holidays.