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 .
New York Banker
Todd Snider Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
How was I to know by retirement day
I'd learn a lesson so cruel?
I came to the day I had waited on
Just to find out all the money in our pension was gone
We invested in somethin' called the Abacus Bond
Sold to us by a New York banker
Good things happen to bad people, bad people, bad people
A big time banker from New York City
Came down south one day
Sold our people on the bond
Had our money bettin' on some kinda
Home loans getting' paid
Buy it they say, we were clearly told
This kinda thing was even safer than gold
But later on we found out the bond we'd been sold
Had been set up to fail all along
Good things happen to bad people, bad people, bad people
Good things happen to bad people, bad people, bad people
We'd been set up to fail all along
Though none of our people had ever quite sensed it
Come to find out the bond born to fail'd been built
So that banker could bet his bread against it
When the house market crashed, our retirement did too
Everybody said there was nothing we could do
That banker walked off with a million or two
I'm still teachin' at the high school
Good things happen to bad people, bad people, bad people
Good things happen to bad people, bad people, bad people
Good things happen to bad people, bad people, bad people
Good things happen to bad people, bad people, bad people
Good things happen to bad people, bad people, bad people
Good things happen to bad people, bad people, bad people
The song "New York Banker" by Todd Snider tells the story of a retired teacher from Arkansas who discovers to their dismay that their pension fund has evaporated because of a bond they were sold by a New York banker. The song is sung with a slow, almost mournful tone, and the lyrics describe the betrayal felt by the teacher and their fellow retirees. The song also touches on the themes of greed and the corrupt practices of big banks.
The song's opening verses describe the situation the retired teacher finds themselves in. They had been teaching at a high school in Arkansas for years and had saved up for retirement, only to find out that their pension money was lost due to the Abacus Bond they had invested in. The bond was sold to them by a New York banker who had convinced them it was a safe investment. The teacher had no idea that they had been set up to fail and that the bond was actually designed to benefit the banker who sold it.
The chorus of the song is repeated several times and describes the bitter irony of the situation. "Good things happen to bad people" reinforces the idea that those who do harm often get rewarded, while the good guys are left to suffer the consequences. The song ends with the teacher still teaching at the high school, despite losing their retirement savings, while the New York banker walks away with a million or two.
Overall, "New York Banker" is a poignant commentary on the corrupt practices of big banks and the devastating impact they can have on the lives of ordinary people.
Line by Line Meaning
All these years, Arkansas, teachin' at the high school
I spent my life in Arkansas, working as a teacher at the high school
How was I to know by retirement day
I had no idea until my retirement what was going to happen
I'd learn a lesson so cruel?
I learned a hard and cruel lesson
I came to the day I had waited on
The day of my retirement had finally arrived
Just to find out all the money in our pension was gone
To my shock, I discovered all the money we had saved for retirement was gone
We invested in somethin' called the Abacus Bond
We had invested in a financial product called the Abacus Bond
Sold to us by a New York banker
It had been sold to us by a banker from New York City
A big time banker from New York City
The banker who sold us the bond was a high-profile banker from New York City
Came down south one day
He came down to the southern part of the United States
Had our money bettin' on some kinda
He had bet our money on a type of investment
Home loans getting' paid
That investment was based on people paying their home loans
Buy it they say, we were clearly told
We were encouraged to buy the Abacus Bond and were assured that it was safe
This kinda thing was even safer than gold
We were told that the Abacus Bond was even safer than gold, a traditional safe investment
But later on we found out the bond we'd been sold
However, we later found out that the bond we had invested in was not what it seemed
Had been set up to fail all along
The Abacus Bond was actually designed to fail from the beginning
We'd been set up to fail all along
We had been intentionally misled and deceived
Though none of our people had ever quite sensed it
Despite our lack of awareness, the situation was not entirely unexpected
Come to find out the bond born to fail'd been built
We eventually discovered that the Abacus Bond had been created to fail
So that banker could bet his bread against it
The New York banker who sold us the bond had actually made a bet for it to fail
When the house market crashed, our retirement did too
When the housing market declined, so did our retirement savings
Everybody said there was nothing we could do
Despite the unfairness of the situation, we were told there were no actions we could take
That banker walked off with a million or two
The banker who had sold us the Abacus Bond walked away with a large amount of money
I'm still teachin' at the high school
Despite everything, I was still working as a teacher at the high school
Good things happen to bad people, bad people, bad people
This repeating line emphasizes the unfairness and injustice of the situation
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind