Best known for his wry humor, Snider has been a fixture on the Americana, alt-country, and folk scene since his debut on MCA, entitled Songs for the Daily Planet, named for the bar where Snider used to play regularly in Memphis. On that album were the minor hits "Talkin' Seattle Grunge Rock Blues", a folk song about the early '90's grunge scene, featuring a band that "refused to play", and "Alright Guy", which later became the title cut of Gary Allan's 2001 album.
He released two more albums for MCA, Step Right Up and Viva Satellite, the latter often sparking colorful debate amongst fans for its comparisons to Tom Petty. He moved to John Prine's Oh Boy Records where he made Happy to Be Here, New Connection, Near Truths and Hotel Rooms, and East Nashville Skyline. That Was Me: The Best of Todd Snider 1994–1998 was released on the Hip-O label in August 2005.
Todd Snider's next studio album, The Devil You Know, was released in August 2006. It marked Snider's return to a major label, as he is now recording for New Door Records, a subsidiary of Universal Records.
The Devil You Know was named to several critics' year-end "best" lists, including a No. 33 ranking in Rolling Stone magazine's top 50 albums of the year, a No. 25 ranking by No Depression magazine, and No. 14 by Blender magazine.
Snider's songs "Late Last Night" and "I Believe You" have been recorded by the Oklahoma country-rock band Cross Canadian Ragweed. He co-wrote the song "Barbie Doll" with country star Jack Ingram.
Snider's new album, Peace Queer, is set to be released on October 14th, 2008, and will be available as a free download from Oct. 11 to Oct. 31 at http://www.toddsnider.net/store/product/1/Peace-Queer .
Crooked Piece of Time
Todd Snider Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That we live in
All in all and all in all
It's a crooked piece of time
It's a crooked piece of time
That we're livin' in
All in all and all in all
Things got rough
Things got tough
Things got harder than hard
We was just tryin' to make a living
In our own back yard
We're born too late
We die too soon
Anxiety's a terrible crime
If you can't come now
Don't come at all
It's a crooked piece of time
It's a crooked piece of time
That we're livin' in
All in all and all in all
It's a crooked piece of time
It's a crooked piece of time
That we're livin' in
All in all and all in all
It's a crooked piece of time
Yesterday morning an ill wind came
Blew your picture right out of the picture frame
Even blew the candle out from underneath the flame
Yesterday morning an ill wind came
It's a crooked piece of time
That we're livin' in
All in all and all in all
It's a crooked piece of time
It's a crooked piece of time
That we're livin' in
All in all and all in all
It's a crooked piece of time
It's a crooked piece of time
That we're livin' in
All in all and all in all
Things got rough
Things got tough
Things got harder than hard
We was just tryin' to make a living
In our back yard
In Todd Snider's song "Crooked Piece of Time," the first two lines form the chorus, and the lyrics reflect the idea of living in a world that is crooked or unfair. The repetition of the lines "All in all and all in all, it's a crooked piece of time" further emphasizes this sentiment. The song touches on the struggles of everyday life, the hardships of making a living, and the overwhelming feeling of anxiety. The lines, "We're born too late, we die too soon, anxiety's a terrible crime," convey a sense of hopelessness and a feeling that life is out of one's control.
The second verse of the song brings in a story about an "ill wind" that blew a picture out of a frame and even extinguished a candle flame. This imagery adds to the idea of the world being crooked and unpredictable. Overall, the song paints a picture of a challenging time in life, one where people are just trying to get by and make it through the day.
Line by Line Meaning
It's a crooked piece of time
The time we're living in is full of challenges.
That we live in
We're currently experiencing a difficult time period.
All in all and all in all
Overall, it's a tough time filled with hardships.
It's a crooked piece of time
The time we're living in is full of challenges.
Things got rough
Life got tough and difficult to manage.
Things got tough
Challenges and hardships increased significantly.
Things got harder than hard
The difficulties escalated to a level that felt unbearable.
We was just tryin' to make a living
We were struggling to survive and earn a livelihood.
In our own back yard
We were trying to do so in our own hometown, close to our community.
We're born too late
We feel like we missed out on a better time period to live in.
We die too soon
Our lives are too short and end before we want them to.
Anxiety's a terrible crime
The stress and worry we experience is a serious burden to carry.
If you can't come now
If you're not able to handle the difficulties of this time period,
Don't come at all
it's better not to be a part of it at all.
Yesterday morning an ill wind came
An unfortunate event occurred yesterday,
Blew your picture right out of the picture frame
Causing damage to something that held a lot of value and importance.
Even blew the candle out from underneath the flame
The disaster was so severe that it even extinguished a lit candle.
That we're livin' in
We're currently experiencing a difficult time period.
It's a crooked piece of time
The time we're living in is full of challenges.
That we're livin' in
We're currently experiencing a difficult time period.
All in all and all in all
Overall, it's a tough time filled with hardships.
It's a crooked piece of time
The time we're living in is full of challenges.
Contributed by Elena C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.