the PRIVATE BANK of CALIFORNIA

The 2011 Economy's Greatest Hits

A Message from Our CEO

01.09.12

Thought maybe we should take a trip down our musical memory lane as we look back on the year that was.  A pretty good year for tunes, but the subject matter could be a little more upbeat.  

Here’s the top five:

“Paint It Black” by The Rolling Stones

A whirling dervish of a song about Congress’ attempt to try to solve the “red ink”.  Can’t you see John Boehner and Harry Reid, with arms locked, spinning in circles to this one?  (The President would have joined in, but he was on vacation.) The sitar overlay presents a symbolic reminder of the types of competitors that have been kicking our tabula lately. 

“Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd

Chock-full of great lines like “we’re just two lost souls, swimming in a fish bowl, year after year” and “did you exchange a walk on part in a war, for a lead role in a cage?”, this song captured the sentiment that a business community longed for the days when a true fiscal conservative was in office…like Bill Clinton. (Go ahead. Scoff. But you can look it up.)

“El Condor Pasa” by Simon & Garfunkel

Stumped you, huh?  This is the “I’d rather be a hammer than a nail” song.  Mediterranean isles flavor. Sung by the Prime Ministers of Italy and Greece at various times throughout the year…con molto sentimento. 

“Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John

You know Bennie B. is one of my favorites and this anthem paid tribute to the continued efforts at misguided stimulus, a.k.a. Operation Twist. “We’ll kill the fatted calf tonight, so stick around.”  You can say that again.

“Spinning Wheel” by Blood, Sweat and Tears

The remake just repeated the words “what goes up, must come down” for the entire song.  A bit unoriginal but lauded for its apt description of what happened in global stock markets over and over and over again.  Notably, the title was left intact to describe the process by which Wall Street determines equity prices. (Why did that “flash crash” occur anyway?)

Here are the honorable mentions:

“Who’ll Stop the Rain” by Creedence Clearwater Revival

Transposed to a minor key and sung by the American Banker’s Association, but much, much more slowly.

“Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” by AC/DC

Sung by “Occupy” bands to bring attention to the untoward behavior of Wall Street; then misconstrued by the Street as a compliment or an investment strategy, depending.

“Help” by The Beatles

This is the one everybody joined in on…all together now and like that.

David R. Misch

The Private Bank of California