Social Studies: Loudon III Wainwright: Amazon.ca: Music

1. What Gives

2. Tonya's Twirls

3. New Street People

4. Carmine Street

5. O.J.

6. Leap Of Faith

7. Conspiracies

8. Christmas Morning

9. Y2K

10. Number One

11. Bad Man

12. Inaugural Blues

13. Our Boy Bill

14. Jesse Don't Like It

15. Pretty Good Day

Product Description

From Amazon.co.uk

There are two types of topical songwriters. You have your all-the-news-that's-fit-to-sing variety, with Phil Ochs representing its quintessence; for them, "topical" means "protest"--serious business, indeed. And then there's the laugh-to-keep-from-crying stripe spearheaded by Tom Lehrer. Social Studies finds Loudon Wainwright III throwing his lot in with the latter camp. Largely composed on demand for National Public Radio (the US equivalent of Radio 4), Social Studies finds the acerbic wordsmith taking aim at the likes of rough-and-tumble skater Tonya Harding, O.J. Simpson, imprisoned "Panamanian strongman" Manuel Noriega, and President Bill Clinton. With more a smirk than a scowl, Wainwright deftly skewers such 1990s icons as septuagenarian US Senator Jesse Helms ("If Jesse don't like it, it's probably not art / Jesse knows what's good, old Jesse is smart") with just enough bite to leave teeth marks. --Steven Stolder

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Musical satire, May 1 2004

By

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Social Studies (Audio CD)

The album opens with What gives, which pokes fun at musical legends of the past, many of them now dead. I confess that I fail to see what message Loudon was trying to get across but it's a good trip down memory lane so I don't mind.

The remaining songs are much easier to understand. Some of them may seem dated but they are often interesting for what they symbolize. For example, Tonya's twirls (about the ice-skater, Tonya Harding) reminds us about the pressures of competitive sport and the cheating that some are tempted into.

Other songs deal with smokers, the trial of O J Simpson, Santa Claus, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Saddam Hussein and premium telephone lines. Loudon is sympathetic to smokers as they face ever more restrictions but pours scorn on the others.

More seriously, Carmine Street is about somebody barricading themselves inside their house because of rioting in the streets. It was about Los Angeles but would be just as relevant to riots in London or anywhere else.

With an album like this, it is difficult to know whether to recommend it or not. I enjoy listening to it occasionally despite the fact that most of the events that inspired the songs are old news. I try to relate them to something topical and in that way I still find most of them relevant, therefore still amusing.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Histerical -, Jun 7 2002

By

Trixie (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Social Studies (Audio CD)

Wainwright manages to make fun of just about everyone in this CD, in his usual sarcastic, cynical style that seems to attack humanity as a whole. The themes are a bit outdated, (as they were written for NPR... although most were rejected for being too controversial), but it doesn't take away from the music or message of the songs. You'll either love or hate this CD.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Loudon Cleans His Attic, Jun 2 2002

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"stinkeeeye" (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Social Studies (Audio CD)

A truly pedestrian effort, this album is composed of topical tunes whose time has past. This collection would have been better left unrecorded.

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