Will Work for Music: Pop Music and the Workplace
When pop music hit the airways in the
mid-twentieth it changed everything around the world. Music expressed the
feelings of the masses, it gave a voice to the voiceless, and gave artist the
power to influence the world. One way that music has become a major influence
for the people of the United States and Britain was that it gave a voice to
those who worked. Whether they were restaurant workers, office workers, women,
or men music voiced their problems to the world and made it known that the
hardships they faced were faced by everyone who didn’t live in the top tier of
society. The theme of work for many musicians was a personal battle for others
they saw how hard those around them worked to make a meager salary. How many
would turn to a life of crime in order to feed their families. For women music
and the workplace was a double edged sword at time because many of them still
had to deal with gender roles that would place them under a man. If a woman was
a musician there was in likelihood that her music would be written by a man.
For over fifty years music has been the one common denominator for those who
have worked hard and lived under the thumb of other people, whether
politicians, their bosses, or the managers who ran the workplace. These songs
gave them a voice, or better yet a song to express their problems and give them
the strength to be able to stand up to the wrongs that they faced in the work
place.
If there was a place to start the
conversation about the hardships people face in the workplace it would be the
British band The Beatles. Although known as one of the most influential bands
in music they are also the epitome of hard work in an industry that can make
you famous or destroy you in a single swing. In Peter Mercer-Taylor's article
"Songs from the bell jar: autonomy and resistance in the music of The
Bangles" references The Beatles saying "The Beatles adopt a
do-it-yourself approach form the very beginning. They write their own lyrics,
design and eventually build their own instrumental backdrops and work out their
own vocal arrangements. Their music is wild, pungent, hard-hitting,
uninhibited... and personal. The do-it-yourself angle ensures complete
originality at all stages of the production"[1] (Barrow 1963) This
explains that the band had to work hard in order to achieve their dream not
only in front of audiences but also within the music industry. They wrote and
composed the majority of their music working together for five years before
they hit it big. The song “A Hard Day’s Night” was released by the band to show
how hard they worked to get to where they were. It was also an accompaniment to
the movie “A Hard Day’s Night” where the band is on their way to a performance,
on the way they also have many difficulties before the their performance which
includes a missing band member, rabid fans and the feeling of being trapped in
doors do to their popularity. Even though they face all of these things they
work together to make sure their appearance happens. The song and the movie
reflect their work ethic which Mercer-Taylor is talking about and though the
band broke up years later they all worked hard separately. The lyrics of the
song also display another type of work that most people wish to achieve and
that’s the relationship between two people and that as people we work hard not
only for ourselves but also for our lovers, and children.
Thirteen years after The Beatles released
“A Hard Day’s Night” another band would make the hardships of work known to the
people of Britain. The Clash would release the song “Career Opportunities” in
1977 after years of rising unemployment in the United Kingdom. In Marcus Gray's
article "The Clash: Return of the Last Gang in Town" he writes
"When Mick added his tune, 'Career Opportunities' emerged as one of the
more powerful songs in the band's repertoire. In the wake of the 1976
unemployment figures and the opening lines of '1977' - about having been 'too
long on the dole' - it moved the employment issue to the centre of the Clash's
agenda." The song discusses the job opportunities that were available
during the time especially for the younger generation were small jobs that
didn’t gave the opportunity for growth and were unappealing to them. A specific
line in the song that says “I won’t open letterbombs for you”[2] is a reference to a former
job that Mick Jones’ had “where he worked as a clerical assistant at a DHSS
Benefit Office. At the time, government buildings were on a high terrorist
alert, with the IRA terrorist organization using letterbombs as weapons.”[3] It was one of the most
dangerous jobs and also one that was offered to low level office workers. The
problem with unemployment in Britain would continue to rise through the next
few years and the band members who became more popular and famous wondered “as
to whether they could still play "Career Opportunities" live,
considering its subject matter.”[4] Since they wondered about
it on their 1980 triple album Sandinista! some of the lyrics were changed in
order to set the stage for the change in time. The change also coincides with a
new generation that has to deal with the after effects of the recession that
has been going one for years. Politicians always make reference to making life
better for future generations but sometimes they make things worse and the ones
left picking up the pieces are the children who had to grow up in the problem
set by the generation that went before them.
As music entered the 1980’s a different
wave of work related music would hit the radio stations. The first would be a
song that is connected to a movie as well as the issues that women face in the
work place. Dolly Parton’s country hit “9 to 5” centered around a world were
women would do the same work as men but wouldn’t get the credit. In Richard
Carlin's "Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary" he talks about
Parton’s role in the movie and what it did for her career, he says that
"In 1980 Parton's everywoman personality was perfectly exploited in the
working-class/feminist movie 9 to 5. This depiction of a group of
secretaries' revenge on their domineering and sexist boss appealed to working
women and helped cement Parton's image as "just another gal." Her
title composition for the film was a pop and country hit. This success led to a
decade of minor and major film roles, plus continued recordings in a
pop-country vein."[5] Parton’s role in the movie
led to many different success including an amusement park as well as becoming
one of the biggest crossover artist in country music. The song also shed a
light at what it was like to be a woman in the workplace because at times women
would have to do the work of many and get paid the least with almost no credit.
In the song it says “They let you dream, Just to watch ‘em shatter, You’re just
a step, On the boss-man’s ladder”[6] makes the reference that
women are just used as a stepping stone for men in the work place. Yet the song
and the movie are also depicted as a way for women to get the credit they
deserve in a world where all the power belong to men.
A band that took a different approach to
the issues that people have in the work place is The Butthole Surfers and their
song “I Hate My Job.” They weren’t known as a mainstream band for a long time
and constantly had to work hard to have their music hears. In Jason Ankeny’s
biography on the band he writes "Arguably the most infamously named band
in the annals of popular music -- for years, radio found their moniker
unspeakable, and the press deemed it unprintable -- Butthole Surfers long
reigned among the most twisted and depraved acts ever to bubble up from the
American underground."[7] The band didn’t reach
commercial success until the 1990’s and had long struggled to rise from the
bottom. Their song “I Hate My Job” is about how people were, in the time before
social media, when they hated their boss and their job. This song would
probably be a bigger hit in the time of Facebook and Twitter because in the 21st
century if someone posted about how much they hated their job, or named
specifically the person who was treating them badly at work, the person could
be fired from their position. From the stance of the band it still rang true
even in the 1980’s because if their boss listened to a song and heard his or
her name than they could sue for defamation. Another reason why The Butthole
Surfers were popular is because they worked at regular jobs why trying to rise
to where they are now. Sometimes a band speaks louder when they’ve been to
where their listening base is and that’s how they gain follows, by being just
like them.
Three years after The Butthole Surfers,
there was an all-female band that were making their way up the charts, they
called themselves The Bangles. Their biggest selling album “Different Light”
featured some of the most well-known songs from the 1980’s. Mercer-Taylor’s
article he says that "The Bangles' collective attainment, in their early
years, of a degree of artistic self-determination not historically assumed by
women allows us to view with particular clarity the mechanisms through which
this autonomy could be compromised in the process of creating a publicly
palatable product. Moreover, as the work of an all-female band, The Bangles'
music offers at least the potential for unique insights into the question of
what for a distinctly 'female' rock discourse might take - a line of critical
investigation that has, of necessity, focused almost entirely on individual
artist."[8]
The Bangles had to work their way up from the bottom in the rock music industry
because this was a time when it was rare for female rock bands to make it over
the success of their male counterparts.
Yet their success wasn’t all their own, it would be rare that an all-female
band making it big without help and although they’re known for their commercial
success that same success was achieved with the help of another musician. The
song Manic Monday was written and composed by Prince, and although the song is
about even though you dream for a different life the reality is that you still
have to get up and go to work. In contrast to Dolly Parton’s song “9 to 5” The
Bangles still have to work for their dreams as musician by working for a man.
Which reflects the problem that women can’t attain success without the help of
a man. The sound of the band is synthetic in Manic Monday which also shows how
much control Prince had over the song versus letting the band themselves choose
the direction of the song.
Jumping forward twelve years and the new
millennium has come and with it a new wave of music about work and the hardship
of working at jobs that you hate. Chumbawamba’s song “Compliments to Your
Waitress” which references the long days that most women face working in the
service industry and dealing with rude customer’s while constantly having to
smile. Their song has entered a new world with new gender roles and women are
still at the bottom in most cases. In the lyrics for the song it says “Pretty
young couple in the corner/ With much too much to say/They don't like a thing
that I bring them,/ And they send it all away/ They look in my eyes when I
apologise/ Say they want it all for free/ They've got the guilt of easy money,”[9] This talks about how many
people believe that if they complain enough about some than they shouldn’t have
to pay for it, because some people work hard to provide and other work at jobs
they hate but there are people who have it all but treat others like their
below them and want it all for free. This also connects to Dolly Parton, and
The Bangles because women, especially women in music, have to work hard to get
to where they can play with the big boys. Ultimately even as a song women
always have to work harder in order to gain the notoriety as the men who work
in the same industry. In Ian Glasper's "The Day the Country Died"
best sums up the bands experience with the workplace for those who they
believed needed a voice loud enough for the world to hear, saying that
"During the year-long whirlwind that followed the stratospheric sales of
'Tubthumping' Chumbawamba found themselves performing at the 1998 Brit Awards,
and an opportunity arose for yet well-timed mischief. Labour MP John Prescott
was in attendance, and after changing the words to 'Tubthumping' to include,
'New Labout sold out the dockers, just like they'll sell out the rest of us',
Danbert doused the lumpy minister with a bucket of ice warer, declaring loudly,
'This is for the Liverpool Dockers!"[10] (383) In connection to the song
"Compliments of Your Waitress" which in the 21st century is one of
the lowest paid positions it shows that the band is still trying to draw
attention for the little people who work for others. The band would rather use
their position in the music industry to raise awareness for the problems of
other people than becoming huge stars and forgetting their roots.
Across the Pacific the United States was
dealing with its own problems with the workforce after an economic crash caused
millions of people to lose their jobs and savings. Rise Against’s song
“Re-Education (Through Labor)” demonstrated the new problems facing the
millennial generation. Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath said that this song
"It's talking a lot about the 9-to-5, dog-eat-dog lifestyle, and what we
are asked to do to simply make ends meet nowadays, and I think it's a feeling
shared by people all around the world and especially in this country."[11] They know that people
have problems getting enough to feed their family and keep a roof under their
heads, they’ll work until they bleed and still not have enough. People during
the economic crash of 2008 felt as though they could lose everything from one
day to the next and the song perfectly encompasses the problem that you feel
weighed down and everything comes at you at the same time and it doesn’t lift
the weight that pushes you down.
Religion also plays a role in music and
sometimes in the most surprising combination when it comes to work. In 2009
Tedashii released the song “Work” which has the theme of hard work even though
he doesn’t match the stereotypical modern day rapper. Tedashii is a Christian
Rap artist and his music is filled with both personal experience but strikingly
different from Jay-Z and Kanye West. In the song he says “I work, and I press/
And I do everything I can just trying to give these folks my best/ I sweat, and
I grind.”[12]
Showing that it’s all about working hard and doing life on your on terms, you
please those you work for, even if you hate the job. Than stating “I'm fighting
to please Jesus”[13]
because his boss isn’t the one in the workplace but the one that is in his head
and his heart and this leads to him saying that he’s finished with the
lifestyle of pleasing others and wants to be free of the lying, he wants to
work for the son of God. This is very different from the music that is sung by
most Rock artist in which they talk about the difficulties of working hard and
not being recognized, or from the point of women who have to work hard just to
be known.
A song released in the same year a
Tadashii’s “Work” is by the band Drive-by Truckers named “This Fucking Job,”
and unlike Tadashii’s uplifting lyrics about finding your purpose by working
for Jesus, this song shows the hardships of working in a menial job. “This
Fucking Job” describes the hardships of working at a job that goes nowhere,
which connects to many low income workers who are stuck working at fast food
restaurants during the recession barely making it by on minimum wage. The music
video for the song shows that if you want to quit your dead-end job you should
stop making excuses and go for it but the true hardship comes when you have no
income and have to resort to stealing to feed your family. Also even though it
feels good to say good bye to your boss in the end the person who will truly
suffer is yourself because you didn’t stop to see what you had until it’s gone.
The chorus that repeats itself in the song says “Nobody told me it'd be easy,
Or for that matter it'd be so hard, But it's the livin' and the learnin', It
makes the difference, it makes it all worthwhile, Makes it all worthwhile”[14] This is similar to
Tadashii in that it reminds the listener that sometimes working and making a
difference in the life of those around you is what teaches you that sometime
life isn’t just about you and your problems because everyone has problems.
The stark difference of the theme of work
compare to Tadashii and most of the rock musicians that have been listed is Wiz
Khalifa’s “Work Hard Play Hard.” The kind of work that Khalifa has learned from
in his life is that of being a child with a parent in the military, which
attributes to many kids who were born and raised in the last thirty years. Children from
military families know what hard work is because many of them have to help out
around the house because the other parent isn't there or they're working. He wrote lyrics from a young age which
means that he is very dedicated to his craft.
Though
the song itself also shows what you gain from working hard even if others take things from you, then you can let
those things go because in the end you have bigger things to do than worry
about what other people take from you. Compared to Tadeshii the message is the
same until the term Play Hard comes into play because Khalifia is more of a
mainstream artist and with work comes play. He’s an artist who also embraces
the material rewards that come with working hard, and even though he’s the same
age as much of his audience most of them wouldn’t be able to afford the things
that he can. This shows the difference between what the people have versus
those on top and it creates a need for consumers to live the same lifestyle as
an artist they love. Many people have debts because they want to live this
lifestyle but it’s the life that Wiz Khalifa perpetuates in his music.
Music genres change from
decade to decade, but the theme of work doesn’t change because the same
problems that the previous generations have had also find their way into future
generations. Women can work hard to destroy the stereotypes that are set upon
them both in life and in the work place. They get paid less than men even if
they do the same job, they have to dress differently to be noticed in the work
place. Even if they are CEO’s of multimillion dollar companies they would
ultimately be blamed for something that was never their fault. Music has done
its job explaining many of these problems but it still has a long way to go
before the message is heard. The differences between Rock music and Rap music
is also a stark comparison both in the industry and in the theme of work. Rock
musicians can point out how the lower classes barely get by but in the end
they’re still living what could be a dream from many low income workers. As for
rap whether it is inspiring like Tadeshii or like Wiz Khalifa in telling people
that with work comes play the message is to balance your work life and your
real life because the two are different. A person can play all they want but
that won’t put food on the table. The theme of work as a genre in music is used
to inspire people, and to remind them that even though you work hard there are
others who work harder and sometimes everyone struggles in the same way even if
they can only see the surface of what a person is saying.
[1]
Peter Mercer-Taylor, "Songs
from the Bell Jar: Autonomy and Resistance in the Music of The Bangles," Popular
Music 17 (1998): 187
[2]
Joe Strummer, Mick Jones. “Career Opportunities by The Clash.” (CBS: England
1977).
[3]
"Career Opportunities by The Clash Songfacts." Career Opportunities
by The Clash Songfacts. Accessed May 9, 2015.
[4]
Ibid
[5]
Richard Carlin. “Country Music: A Biographical Dictionary.” (New York:
Routledge, 2013), 305-306
[6]
Dolly Parton, “9 to 5” (RCA: Nashville, 1980)
[7]
Jason Ankeny, “Butthole Surfers: Biography” available from http://www.allmusic.com/artist/butthole-surfers-mn0000633181/biography
Accessed 9 May 2015
[8]
Mercer-Taylor, "Autonomy and Resistance in the music of The Bangles"
189
[9]
Chumbawamba, “Compliments to Your Waitress” (No Masters: Manchester, 2008)
[10]
Ian Glasper, “The Day the Country Died: A History of Anarcho Punk 1980-1984”
(London: Cherry Red Books, 2006), 383
[11]
“Re-Education (Through Labor) by Rise Against” Available from http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=12966
accessed on 9 May 2015
[12]
Tadeshii “Work” (Reach, Denton,TX: 2009)
[13]
Ibid
[14]
Drive-By Truckers, “This Fucking Job” (ATO, Athens, GA: 2010)
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