Lyrics for a Special Occasion

It isn't much fun blogging about what a cruddy day it was. Besides, several people already beat me to it (Here's Seeking Alpha, The NY Times, the WSJ, and several links found by uber-smart Greg Mankiw). Most likely, more of the same tomorrow - crude down, stocks down, and the dollar (maybe) higher as the virulent contagion released from this version of the Manhattan Project continues to ripple out into the economies of Europe.)

I often find myself singing a song's lyrics in my head...unconsciously scrolling through the Ipod of my memory to select an appropriate lyric. A few days ago I was driving around in a friend's 1973 Mustang - getting ready to take it to the classic car show at the auto auction. The song I had in my mind then was "Maybelline" by Chuck Berry. Today, I had a different song in my head. It was "Song of the South" by Alabama.

Do you think this sums up our experience today? You know...financial turmoil, an appreciation for being able to afford the small things, and a unprecedentedly large government spending program???

Well somebody told us Wall Street fell
but we were so poor that we couldn't tell.
Cotton was short and the weeds were tall
but Mr. Roosevelt's a gonna save us all.

Well momma got sick and daddy got down.
The county got the farm and they moved to town.
Papa got a job with the TVA.
He bought a washing machine and then a Chevrolet.

Or alternatively...a few Eric Clapton lyrics for our investment banking brethren...

Once I lived the life of a millionaire,
Spent all my money, didn't have any cares
Took all my friends out for a mighty good time,
Bought bootleg liquor, champagne and wine.

Then I began to fall so low,
Lost all my good friends, had nowhere to go.
I get my hands on a dollar again,
Gonna hang on to it till that old eagle grins.

From "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" - since I am sure that John Thain, Dick Fuld and Jimmy Caine have been humming a few bars of that one lately.