Regular readers know that I pride myself on my subprime headlines. I even compiled a handy list of them all in one place, useful for meta-subprime commentary posts such as the one you are reading right now.

But today I must bow my head to a new subprime sensei, the International Political Economy Zone’s Emmanuel Yujuico, who offered up a headline this morning that even in my most restless housing bust induced dreams I could never imagine.

“The Subprime Wisdom of Megadeth.”

Some How the World Works readers may be unfamiliar with Megadeth, the thrash metal band founded in 1983 by the charismatic, if unruly, Dave Mustaine, after he was kicked out of Metallica. But even someone who keeps an unhealthily close eye on pop culture as myself was unaware that Mustaine had written a song that “refers to regular folks getting foreclosed in the US of A in the wake of the S&L crisis.”

A taste:

Foreclosure of a dream
Those visions never seen
Until all is lost
Personal Holocaust
Foreclosure of a dream

As Emmanuel notes, there are some strong similarities between the S&L crisis and the subprime meltdown — among them, regular folks getting worked over. For the video, full lyrics, and additional commentary, please visit, (and I gotta say it twice ‘cause it’s just too nice) “The Subprime Wisdom of Megadeth.”