Here's the soundtrack for your financial misery

"Stuck on the Corner," Todd Snider ("Peace Queer," to be released Oct. 14) The corner that Nashville rocker Snider refers to is "the corner of sanity and madness," and his narrator seems to be headed down crazy street. He's a bitterly unhappy man whose family is determined to keep up with the Joneses, despite the fact that the breadwinner is on the verge of a breakdown. He could easily be one of the workers set adrift by the Lehman Bros. collapse. (This guy is really losing it, so his language gets a little salty. In other words, this is your parental warning that there are naughty words.)

"Something's Gotta Give," Big Boi and Mary J. Blige ("Sir Luscious Left Foot ... Son of Chico Dusty," due in October). As Blige ably does ache — as usual — Atlanta's Antwan "Big Boi" Patton reminds us why his group, OutKast, is looked to for some of the more thoughtful and melodic takes on the moment.

"Pretty Green," Mark Ronson with Santogold ("Version," 2007)

The original (by the Jam, in 1980) was written in the early months of Britain's Margaret Thatcher era by the Jam's Paul Weller. It's been resurrected for modern times with of-the-moment beats by Amy Winehouse producer Mark Ronson and hot-shot singer and songwriter Santi "Santogold" White. "This is the pretty green. This is society. You can't do nothing unless it's in the pocket, oh no." Pretty self-explanatory, but just to be sure you get the point, Weller added this: "Power is measured by the pound or the fist."

"We Used to Vacation," Cold War Kids ("Robbers & Cowards," 2006) Things are really weighing on this guy, but his biggest problem is the drinking. He's promised his wife and kids he won't do it any more, but "it sounds so soothing to mix a gin and sink into oblivion." And what about those vacations of the title? "Two weeks paid vacation won't heal the damage done," he sings. "I need another one." Don't we all.

"Mercy Now," Mary Gauthier ("Mercy Now," 2005) "Mercy Now" is such an effective plea for kindness and compassion that it has been embraced by folks on both ends of the political spectrum, including conservative radio personality Laura Ingraham. Says Gauthier: "I wrote it that way intentionally. I just didn't know I had succeeded until [Ingraham] started playing it." n her bruised twang, Gauthier sings: "My church and my country could use a little mercy now / As they sink into a poisoned pit / That's going to take forever to climb out." The song even has it's own MySpace site (www.myspace.com/singmercynow), where you can find the song in various languages.

"Mushaboom," Feist ("Let It Die," 2004) Our heroine dreams of that house in the country, but she's stuck with "second-floor living without a yard." Canadian singer-songwriter Feist sings it with such joy that it doesn't seem to get her down, despite the fact that house may be many moons away. "It may be years until the day," she continues. "My dreams will match up with my pay." And this was before the current mortgage crisis.

"Pearls," Sade ("Love Deluxe," 1992). Sad and beautiful all at once, you see the woman in Somalia, scraping for pearls on the roadside. There's no way not to feel what she means when she says "it hurts like brand new shoes." And try not screaming when she wails, "Hallelujah!"

"It's Like That," Run-DMC ("Run–D.M.C.," 1984). The "Hard Times" that hip-hop pioneers Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels and the late Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell rhymed about in the song of the same name were actually better detailed in this harder hitter from the same album. First line (which should be yelled at a vein-bursting volume): "Unemployment at a record high!"

"The Message," Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five (1982). This may very well qualify as the hip-hop generation's "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" And as crazy as this rap ensemble may look now in their tight leather pants, their words still resonate in ways their outfits do not. Especially that snarling hook: "Don't push me cause I'm close to the edge/I'm try-ing not to lose my head/Huh-huh-huh-huh-huh/It's like a jungle sometimes it makes me wonder how I keep from going under!"

ONLINE: What's your candidate for a spot on a new hard times soundtrack? Join the discussion on the Atlanta Music Scene blog. At www.accessatlanta.com/blogs.