Shania Twain Waxing Economical

Shania's album "Up," released Nov. 2002, gives a prescient analysis of the present consumer credit crisis. Who convinced this pop/country artist to take up social commentary? It makes me wonder if she could have been a member of that old band Peter, Paul, and Shania.

Shania starts by naming the cultural roots of the sub-prime fiasco:

We live in a greedy little world
That teaches every little boy and girl
To earn as much as they can possibly
Then turn around and spend it foolishly
We've created us a credit card mess
We spend the money we don't possess
Our religion is to go and blow it all
So it's shoppin' every Sunday at the mall

All we ever want is more
A lot more than we had before
So take me to the nearest store

And then Shania gets surprisingly specific:

When you're broke go and get a loan
Take out another mortgage on your home
Consolidate so you can afford
To go and spend some more when you get bored

But by then end of the song, you know it's Shania again because she starts sounding like she's too interested in dancing to be bothered with profound lyrics:

Let's swing
Dig deeper in your pocket
Oh, yeah, ha
Come on I know you've got it
Dig deeper in your wallet
Oh