(Here are the links for each of the songs if you want to embed them:
• Alabama/40 Hour week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-G2J3RzURA
• Dolly Parton/9 to 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwDMFOLIHxU
• George Strait & Kenny Chesney/Shiftwork: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9oK8FXdQRo
• Brooks & Dunn/Only in America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN1iI-DaJNw
• Jay & the Americans/Only in America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1cvWTBK9zI
• Huey Lewis/Workin’ for a Livin’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcIK3akktLU
• The Vogues: Five O’Clock World: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSIGwAY2JBs
• Glen Campbell/Wichita Lineman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HFCuBLAjXo
• Brooks & Dunn/Hard Workin’ Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcXg8RrylII
• Beatles/Hard Day’s Night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tcfbgQsYtM
•
“Take This Job and LOVE IT” – that’s what Labor Day is all about. Country singer Johnny Paycheck’s song “Take This Job and Shove It” might have represented his thoughts, but hopefully not the thoughts of working Americans.
Our nation is enjoying unprecedented prosperity across so many economic metrics and business sectors that companies are expanding with new facilities and hiring more people.
Texas continues to attract more families and businesses due to our positive business climate that offers the balance of live, work and play.
Yes, people are loving their jobs, which allows us to celebrate Labor Day this Monday, September 4.
I have invested some time reviewing “Working” songs from the past and I want to share some of my favorites with you today:
• Alabama: “40-Hour Week” (1985) – They recognize the hard-working men and women whose efforts make the United States such a great country.
o There are people in this country who work hard every day,
Not for fame or fortune to they strive’
But the fruits of their labor are worth more than they pay,
And it’s time a few of them were recognized
• Dolly Parton: “Working 9 to 5” (1980) – She sings about the hopes and dreams of working hard in seemingly unappreciated jobs.
o You’re in the same boat with a lotta your friends, waitin’ for the day your ship’ll come in
• George Strait and Kenny Chesney: Shiftwork (2010) – He sings about blue-collar work being a tough job.
o “Shift work, hard work, tired body; blue-collar shirt and a baseball cap”
• Brooks & Dunn: Only in America (2001) – This song by Brooks & Dunn (originally performed by Jay and the Americans in 1995) sings about everything being possible in America.
o Jay & the Americans:
Only in America, can a kid without a cent,
Get a break and maybe grow up to be president
o Brooks & Dunn:
Sun goin’ down on an LA freeway, newlyweds in the back of a limousine;
A welder’s son and a banker’s daughter, all they want is everything
• Huey Lewis: Workin’ for a Livin’” (2005) – He sings about “takin’ what they’re givin’” as both the demands of the job and the money the company pays.
o Workin’ for a livin’, livin’ and workin’;
I’m takin’ what they’re givin’ ’cause I’m workin’ for a livin’
• The Vogues: Five O’Clock World (1966) – They sing about looking forward to the end of the work day.
o But it’s a five o’clock world when the whistle blows,
No one owns a piece of my time;
And there’s a five o’clock me inside my clothes,
Thinking that the world looks fine, yeah
• Glen Campbell: “Wichita Lineman” (1968) – He sings about being a telephone lineman as an ordinary man with extraordinary dreams.
o I hear you singin’ in the wire, I can hear you through the whine;
And the Wichita lineman is still on the line
• Brooks & Dunn: Hard Workin’ Man” (1993) – They sing that they place their future on the line with the quality of their workmanship and how this job helps them earn a piece of their dreams.
o I’m a hard, hard workin man, I got it all on the line;
For a piece of the promised land
• The Beatles: “Hard Day’s Night” (1964) – They sing about working hard and then returning home to their wife and that makes everything good.
o It’s been a hard day’s night, and I been working like a dog
It’s been a hard day’s night, I should be sleeping like a log
But when I get home to you I find the things that you do
Will make me feel alright
With all these songs in my head, I choose to take my job and love it. How about you?
Mac Churchill has been helping North Texans solve their transportation problems for over 30 years.