Whenever there have been times of turbulence in this great nation of ours, musicians have risen to the challenge and composed memorable songs that reflect the national mood and, sometimes, serve as an inspirational call to arms. The Revolutionary War War of 1812 had Francis Scott Key and “The Star-Spangled Banner,†the Vietnam War had Buffalo Springfield and “For What It’s Worth,†and the Gulf War had “Voices That Care.†Okay, so maybe that last one was neither memorable nor inspirational, but that’s beside the point. What we’re trying to get at is this: We really need someone to step up and write the first truly kick-ass entry in the brand-new genre we’re dubbing Bailout Rock. And, judging from the last two nights of late-night television, we currently have two contenders for the throne: Prince Rogers Nelson and country-music star John Rich.
Prince performed “Ol Skool Company†on the Tonight Show on Wednesday night (sample line: “Fat cats on Wall Street, they got a bailout / Think it was AIGâ€), and last night on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, country-music artist John Rich belted out his hit song “Shuttin’ Detroit Down†(sample lyric: “Now I see all these big shots whinin’ on the evening news / About how they’re losing billions and it’s up to me and you / To come running to the rescueâ€). So, VultureWatchers, what say you? Which do you prefer? We’ve got both clips for you below.
Here’s John Rich with “Shuttin’ Detroit Down†(currently in the top twenty on Billboard’s country-music charts):