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Marketplace Scratch Pad

Give us a song, then

Scott Jagow May 14, 2009

One of the signatures of the Marketplace programs is, of course, the music that’s played when we do “the numbers.” If the Dow, the Nasdaq and the S and P 500 are all up, we play “We’re in the Money.” When stocks are down, it’s “Stormy Weather.” And when the results are mixed, it’s time for “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got that Swing).” However, this recession has prompted us to innovate, musically speaking. After all, raise your hand if you’re feeling in the money?

So we turned to LA composer and musical wizard Joe Matzzie. He’s come up with something for those days when the markets are up, but nobody feels like doing cartwheels or even feeble hand stands. I’d say it’s a melancholy version of “We’re in the Money”:

Some listeners have complained that playing “We’re in the Money” sounds tone-deaf, considering the economic times. But for the record, “We’re in the Money” is actually a Depression-era song. It came from the film, “Gold Diggers of 1933,” with Ginger Rogers. So maybe it’s more fitting than it sounds. The lyrics:

We’re in the money, we’re in the money;
We’ve got a lot of what it takes to get along!
We’re in the money, that sky is sunny,
Old Man Depression you are through, you done us wrong.

We never see a headline about breadlines today.
And when we see the landlord we can look that guy right in the eye
We’re in the money, come on, my honey,
Let’s lend it, spend it, send it rolling along!

On second thought, maybe the lyrics to “Stormy Weather” are more appropriate:

Life is bare, gloom and misery everywhere
Stormy weather
Just cant get my poor self together
I’m weary all the time
So weary all the time

All I do is pray the lord above will let me walk in the sun once more.
Can’t go on, everything I had is gone
Stormy weather

Geez. But who wants to hear that in their head every day???

By the way, tonight on Marketplace, reporter Nate DiMeo has a feature on the history of “We’re in the Money.”

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