Social Studies

Loudon Wainwright III | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 13, 1999)
• Original Release Date: July 13, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hannibal
• ASIN: B00000JLJ5
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,779 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #65 in Music > Indie Music > Folk > Contemporary Folk

Track Listings

1. What Gives

2. Tonya's Twirls

3. New Street People

4. Carmine Street

5. O.J.

6. Leap Of Faith

7. Conspiracies

8. Christmas Morning

9. Y2K

10. Number One

11. Bad Man

12. Inaugural Blues

13. Our Boy Bill

14. Jesse Don't Like It

15. Pretty Good Day

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Too Topical?, November 14, 2000

By 

Blake Watson "===Blake===" (Winnetka, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Social Studies (Audio CD)

A collection of songs written over about a ten year period on the latest fads and fashions, about as far from his usual stuff as you could get. An informal survey of Loudon fans had them all agreeing that this wasn't his best stuff, but no agreement on which songs were representative of decline in quality.

I offer this opinion: They're all good, but how you view them has a lot to do with how personally you take the issue being addressed.

Hate the (now common) practice of digging up a dead musicians tapes to record new songs? "What Gives?" is bound to resonate.

A smoker forced to relocate to the streets in the current atmosphere of "no smoke tolerance"? "New Street People" is the song for you.

The strongest songs on the album are probably those which are still startlingly relevant, whether through the cleverness of the songwriter or by accident of current events. "Leap of Faith" and "Inaugural Blues" apply depressingly to the current election. "Bad Man" and "Christmas Morning", about troubles with dictators and the middle east, will probably never go out of fashion. "Tonya's Twirls", though about ice skater Tonya Harding, has a nice twist in it that makes one reflect on the Olympics in general. "Carmine Street" and "Pretty Good Day So Far" are fair estimates of what being exposed to the news media can do to a person, both good and bad.

You probably won't like all the songs or think some of them are just "so so", but it's almost guaranteed to be two or three on here that will be "worth the price of admission alone".

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars As good as Loudon gets., June 24, 1999

By 

Jack Stamps([e-mail]) (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Social Studies (Audio CD)

I heard Loudon sing most of these songs at the Cactus Cafe in Austin, Texas last month. AS usual, I was blown away by his wit, humor, sensitivity and musical prowess. Mr. Wainwright, no matter how you spell his name, is a real charmer.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Musical satire, May 1, 2004

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Social Studies (Audio CD)

The album opens with What gives, which pokes fun at musical legends of the past, many of them now dead. I confess that I fail to see what message Loudon was trying to get across but it's a good trip down memory lane so I don't mind.

The remaining songs are much easier to understand. Some of them may seem dated but they are often interesting for what they symbolize. For example, Tonya's twirls (about the ice-skater, Tonya Harding) reminds us about the pressures of competitive sport and the cheating that some are tempted into.

Other songs deal with smokers, the trial of O J Simpson, Santa Claus, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Saddam Hussein and premium telephone lines. Loudon is sympathetic to smokers as they face ever more restrictions but pours scorn on the others.

More seriously, Carmine Street is about somebody barricading themselves inside their house because of rioting in the streets. It was about Los Angeles but would be just as relevant to riots in London or anywhere else.

With an album like this, it is difficult to know whether to recommend it or not. I enjoy listening to it occasionally despite the fact that most of the events that inspired the songs are old news. I try to relate them to something topical and in that way I still find most of them relevant, therefore still amusing.