A songwriter's ode to Congress: 'Bail Me Out'

From Times staff writer William Heisel:

Hard financial times have always led to great music. Muddy Waters. Johnny Cash. James Brown. All of them sang about the struggle to put food on the table.

So it's no surprise that musicians today are responding to the credit crunch, and the federal government's attempt to solve it, in song.

Jim Becker, a 47-year-old Whittier songwriter who says he moved to Los Angeles in 1984 with $800 in his pocket hoping to make it big, echoes what a lot of Americans were saying as they watched Congress debate the $700-billion financial system rescue package.

Currently unemployed, with three daughters, Becker says he watched the debate and thought, "Why isn't there a bailout for guys like me?"

So he wrote "Bail Me Out" and posted it on his Myspace page last week.

He starts the song by saying, "Here's your income verification," a nod to lax loan requirements that helped lead the country into the current mess. Then he ticks off his troubles.

His first verse:

I can't afford to buy a house
I can't afford to buy a house
I make 55 thousand dollars a year
and I can't afford to buy a house

I got no savings account
I got no savings account
I spent it on health insurance and gasoline
Now I got no savings account

Bail me out
Won't you bail me out
Won't you bail me out
Throw a drowning man a line

Comments

[Michael Snyder]

Bailout Blues"

I was hangin' out in Washington
Shoppin' for my yacht
I picked up the phone, Started talkin' to Hank
Said Hank tell me what you got.

He said

I got me the bail me out blues
Can't even turn on the news
Every time I pick up the phone
Someone's askin for a loan

So I said;

You gave them all a free reign
When the times were flyin' high
They all thought they new better
Than all the little guys

Now they're beggin' billions
Wipein' out the little guy
Do you think there'll be a few million left
For this yacht I need to buy?

We got the bail me out blues
Can't even turn on the news
If you thing folks are upset
You ain't seen nuthin' yet.

Sorry, I have no self control :-)

[Alicia]

Revolution By Vote

Manifest destiny
Truth by complacency
Perhaps more
By apathetic lore

Turn your face
Toward a new place
See the light
Within to fight

Political greed
Not what we need
But does exist
Cause we won't resist

We don't read
Sow planted seed
Cultivate blindness
Financial distress

Blame lies
In everyone's eyes
On every street
People we all meet

Corruption rules
In our box of tools
And we look away
From facts today

Don't be fooled
Votes are pooled
Blue or red
Economy's dead

Independently
Choose wisely
Beyond candidates
Traditional mandates

Revolt against norm
and political form
In November voice
Your realistic choice

[Derek Sivers]

This is great! I love it!

[Rose H.]

Great Song!
Idea!! Why don't we "the people" bail Jim and his family out?! What if everybody who read this article forwarded it on to everyone we could and each of us sent him just $1........sort of a "pay it forward" kind of thing and a "thank you" for his song!
All we need is an address and I know we could all help Jim Becker and his family....who needs Wallstreet when we've got the power of the people!

[Charell]

I heard 'Bail Me Out' once and it was going through my head all day!
I just saw Jim and his daughter play at Starbucks in Uptown Whittier. Wow, can he play the guitar! And his daughter has a great voice! Visit his MySpace page to find his next gig and go see him. http://www.myspace.com/beckerjim

[Jim Becker - aka Beckerjim]

Thank you for the very generous article; not to mention the very kind comments. I just completed a video for Bail Me Out....

Best to you and yours,

Jim Becker
aka Beckerjim