However, the disc’s title track is modern commentary veiled in folksy songwriting language. Its lyric could easily be directed at any greedy foreclosing mortgage company of your choice.
So, let’s take this bank while we still got time
Blow up every god damn loan
Ash floatin’ down like snow tonight
Pretty as a poor man’s poem
On “Evil Men,” Serby relates the story of a good cop gone bad. “I was just a kid with a silver badge,” Serby explains plainspoken-ly, “When we killed a man over dirt and grass.” The lyrics suggest that there is evil in all men – even the ones that may start out good.
I confess we were evil men
But no one thought that way back then
The world’s full of evil men
That’s the way it’s always been
Serby sings these stories rather mater-of-factly. He doesn’t wear any of his characters’ hearts on his sleeve. He’s just here to remind us that the world is filled with evil men, and that’s the way it’s always been.
In many ways, Serby’s music reminds of Bruce Springsteen’s acoustic, folk-y side. Although not nearly as slow and depressing as, say, Nebraska, Poor Man’s Poem is nevertheless filled with equally desperate people. What do desperate, middle class people do when they lose their jobs and houses? Well, in many cases they turn from good people to evil people. Not because they want to, but because they see no other choice. On “Virginia Rail,” Serby asks, “But what’s a man worth without no money?” Well, he’s not worth much to his true love, or so he believes. He’s surrounded by “brothels and saloons/Drunks and killers” that chase the devil’s tail.
On “Off The Caroliners,” Serby brings back the jaunty folk sounds of the ‘60s folk revival. It’s a sea shanty that features acoustic guitar, upright bass, mandolin and accordion.
With “Wild West Show,” Serby details the story of a once proud Indian, forced to play a character in a wild west show.
He once rode bareback ponies
He hunted buffalo
Now that way of life
Is just a Wild West Show
The song is nearly unbearably sad because we learn how this once heroic figure must relive his history for “fifty bucks a week.” You get the feeling Serby is not just sad about this man, but also heartbroken about the passing of the Western way of life. Nevertheless, there were just as many evil men around back then as there are now, so it’s not as if it was a perfect time. Even so, men and women willing to work hard at least had a chance to make an honest living. Not these days, though. Blue collar work is disappearing about as fast as the Native American way of life. Nowadays, the wild west continues, only it’s hidden in the shadows and the boardrooms of big city bankers’ offices, which are full of evil men.
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