If you were to run your eyes over the lists of best-selling singles and most downloaded songs of the past few years, it would be hard to find many songs that directly mention the late-2000s recession, despite the massive impact it has had on much of the public. This is hardly surprising; political songs rarely chart highly, love is always going to be a more popular song theme than unemployment and one of music’s greatest assets is its capacity for escapism which is much needed by many at the moment.
You could say that there are subtle nods towards the situation, such as the appearance of slightly dystopian or politically charged videos from some of the most popular artists around, less songs dismissive of the poor compared to ten or fifteen years ago, less conspicuous consumerism and lower budget videos, but a lot of these trends can be explained by other influences. Lower budget videos are a direct result of the internet and how we watch videos now (I’ll let “Michael Destiny” explain this one).
The love of dystopia is a general pop culture trend and is probably down to more complex factors than just how we view our economy (to get an answer to whether this is true, I googled “why is dystopia popular?” and the answer is Hunger Games, something, something, Zombies, 9/11); in fact one of the videos I linked to, “No Church in the Wild” uses politically violent motifs but its underlying theme is not about money but a criticism of organised religion. There is a dearth of social commentary in our current pop music.
This is not to say that no artist touch these themes, however it seems like previous economic crises have brought way more memorable songs than the current one. So here is the Question(s) Of The Day: What are your favourite recession-themed songs? Whether hinted at, explicitly mentioned, from this recession or from a past crisis what songs call to mind the trials of living in hardened times? Some of my favourites from the past few years are listed below:
Martha Tilston – Wall Street
There is an old(ish) joke that goes: what is the difference between English folk music and yoghurt? Yoghurt grows from a live culture (BOOM). It is true though: listen to Mumford and Sons, probably the most successful English folk rockers of the past thirty years; their lyrics are pastoral and sentimental. They hark back to an England That Was, not the England That Is. So it is great to have a folk song that references contemporary issues for once.
Brother Can You Spare A Dime?- Bing Crosby
I think it goes without saying that the Great Depression was a lot tougher than our current problems (but I’ll say it anyway). This is a sad lament for people who used to feel useful (in this case fighting wars and building America’s infrastructure) and who have since been tossed aside.
Hundreds and Thousands- Riz MC
Rapper Riz MC was inspired to write this exuberant anti-banker rap when he was watching a news story on how the British taxpayer was bailing out the banks on the very same day he got a letter from his own bank advising him of his overdraft charges. Refund indeed.
How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live? – Blind Alfred Reed / Bruce Springsteen
OK, I have posted the video for the Springsteen version, mostly because musical tastes have changed a little bit since 1929. It is a song that shows a lot of the desperation of living in straightened times.
Recession Blues – BB King
This is basically a song about not being able to afford the alcohol you want (WE FEEL FOR YOU BB), and losing a girlfriend because of that. So not the most evocative of lyrics. But it is a damn good tune.
Ghost Town- The Specials
This for me is the king of recession songs and the video underscores the track perfectly. The high unemployment, urban decay and concrete greyness of the UK in the early 1980s all summed up beautifully in one very memorable 2 tone (ska) track.
This City- Steve Earle
So this was written for a TV show and it was written about Hurricane Katrina so maybe it doesn’t fit here. But it is what I would want to hear in a recession song; it sums up the community pride and determination that get cities and towns through tough times. It has a very American defiance about it. The poor of New Orleans were massively failed by their own government during Katrina and this track has a great balance of “fuck you” and “we’re still standing”. It is a shame Detroit couldn’t get a song like this; they ended up with whatever this is.
