There is no doubt that the executives at Headwaters MB, the Denver-based merchant bank, intended to bring a wry smile to the lips of even the most depressed of their private equity peers with their Preferred Return Blues, a catchy 12-bar number, subtitled "a private equity lament".

You can hear a gravel-voiced singer performing it by tapping into www.headwatersmb.com /content/information_3.html.