Peace Queer

by

Todd Snider

Edit

In his own clever way, Todd Snider never fails to surprise. Just when you think he might rest on his hind legs and write something innocuous, he fires back with his most confrontational and poignant record yet. He starts off with a Bo Diddley beat cradeling a metaphor between a maniacal president and someone who "Drove us off a cliff and called it 'flyin'." Snider softens the blow to CCR's "Fortunate Son" while adding to the depth of the lyrics with his hushed reading. He touches on the life awaiting soldiers who return from the war in "Cape Henry" and another character piece, "Is this thing workin?", draws a line between a high-school hallway bully and the chief executive officer through a Gil Scot Heron style recitation. The piece appears again in song form later as "Is This Thing On?". The perils of middle age parenthood inspire "Stuck on a Corner" with it's rompin' rock & roll beat that berates a daughter who "Can't Stand the sight of the car I bought her." Anyone who works in a cubicle and can never seem to satisfy everyone, this is your new anthem.

Just like George Carlin before him, Snider's funniest material is also the most truthful.