And now the musical question, "What will become of those caught up in the credit crisis?" finally has a musical answer -- one that comes with a funky beat, too.

The Los Angeles-based Meyer Shaffer Company and its parody music label Versusplus has cranked out a catchy little ditty, sung to the tune of LaBelle's "Lady Marmalade," called "Where Credit Is Due." Here's a sampling of the lyric, which tells the story of a recent college graduate who gets a Mastercard invitation, then by degrees degenerates into a credit junkie:

"Cajoled to go gold, he enrolled
They said, "Here: Have no career? Never fear.
Live large, charge all your gear.
Just pay the minimum, dear."

"Our parodies are musical op-eds," says Marcy Shaffer, who penned the "Credit" lyrics. "Given the state of the world, we have many parodies that address issues relating to the economy; we refer to them as econoparodies."

Shaffer stresses that she doesn't think there's anything funny about people getting shipwrecked by the recession. But that said, "There is something about the human spirit -- something amazing -- that, in the darkest times, we can find relief in laughter. Laughter plus music is a potent antidote."

If only it could restore a damaged rating, too -- though the publicity surrounding the song certainly hasn't hurt Shaffer. Within 24 hours of its posting, "The parody has been posted to many blogs, worldwide. Traffic to our site and YouTube continues strong, so it's gotten a very good response."

To hear the song, click here.