Social Studies

• Music

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 Product description ABOUT:BILL CLINTON/OJ SIMPSON/BEATLES/EXILED SMOKERS/ETDISC 11. WHAT GIVES2. TONYAand#039;S TWIRLS3. NEW STREET PEOPLE4. CARMINE STREET5. O. J.6. LEAP OF FAITH7. CONSPIRACIES8. CHRISTMAS MORNING9. Y2K10. NUMBER ONE11. BAD MAN12. INAUGURAL BLUES13. OUR BOY BILL14. JESSE DONand#039;T LIKE IT15. PRETTY GOOD DAY