By ShivSidecar
Do you enjoy your work? Is there a sense of achievement? Or is it just a way to keep a full pot on the stove? Buck 65 has been shining shoes outside the station since he was nine, is self-taught and has perfected his own technique, the dry shine. ”You treat each shoe like it's special. Care about your work, and be a professional, there's a right way to go about your job and a wrong one. Unless you take pride in what you're doing you won't last. Craftsmanship is a quality that some lack.” There’s a sting in the tail, though: changing tastes in footwear. “The villain in sneakers is killing my business.” Good luck.
Contrast that with Elliott Smith’s inglorious time in a meaningless, exploitative job as a “Junk Bond Trader” – “trying to sell a sucker a style”. It’s as boring as a drug you take too regularly, and within a few years the protagonist is nothing more than a drifter with time to fill – a policeman last week, a hitchhiker this.
Or you could take the selfless option and dedicate your life to public service. Glasvegas’s “Geraldine” is a real social worker, who chose to travel with the band and apparently took care of singer James Allan during some dark days. “I will turn your tide, do all that I can to heal you inside.” But not everybody receives the same level of approval, never mind appreciation. “I don't think I can deal with the wrath of the general public” admits the beleaguered Benefits Officer in Richard Dawson’s scathing “Civil Servant”. “I can't listen anymore to the bleating of the terminally depressed … In my bed, I can hear the strangled voices of all the people I've failed, I've failed, I've failed…” Did nobody tell him that austerity is working?
Dawson’s narrator doesn’t get on with his colleagues (“I dream of bashing his skull into a brainy pulp with a Sellotape dispenser”), but for many people their workmates make the job worthwhile, and there’s real enjoyment in being part of a team. Kacey Musgraves and her fellow waitresses spend their breaks “Blowin’ Smoke”, discussing each other behind their backs and fantasising about quitting when their ship comes in. They’re in no hurry to move on. Of course, some workers have no choice but to rely on each other. There are many, mostly American, work songs, but here The Pogues describe the army of “Navigators” (or navvies) who physically transformed 19th century Britain with pickaxes and shovels, moving from job to job and town to town. Lest we forget: “They died in their hundreds with no sign to mark where.”
Some actively seek solitude. Elbow may or may not be singing about the loneliness of a real tower crane driver, but we can all recognise the state of mind prompted by isolation and fear: “Oh, so far to fall.” And imagine the mindset of The Bevis Frond’s “Stoned Train Driver”, cocooned in his cab: “Was that signal red? I’m not quite sure. What station was that? Have we been here before?” We have no choice but to put our faith in him. Or buy a car. On a less intense level, some work alone for their own nefarious reasons. The vendor in The Whitlams’ “I Make Hamburgers” knows that the way to the girls’ hearts is via food – and (who knew?) it works: “I make hamburgers, I get all the girls and I take 'em out to dinner and I give them all a whirl.” Deplorable – or is that just envy?
While we’re still loved up, it’s clear what prompted Paul McCartney’s interest in “Lovely Rita”, meter maid: “In a cap she looked much older and the bag across her shoulder made her look a little like a military man…” The author says “I was thinking it should be a hate song… but then I thought it would be better to love her.” Glad he did – a wonderful spontaneous lyric, and a production which credits all four Beatles with playing paper-and-comb. Fab Fact: “Lovely Rita” was recorded in 1967, but the Oxford English Dictionary’s first recorded UK citation for “meter maid” is 1970.
Acting might sound like a cushy job to some, but (as witnessed by the enquiry “Are you working just now?”) it can be punctuated by lengthy periods of inactivity. St Vincent takes delight in teasing the “Actor Out Of Work” – she loves him, but he’s a pain in the arse hanging around her life. And there can be real danger on – or above – the performer’s stage. “The Great Valerio” is a Blondin-esque aerialist (or funambulist): “The rope seems hung from cloud to cloud.” Heart in mouth, Linda Thompson watches him and contemplates faltering, stumbling and tumbling while her then husband Richard plucks out heartbeats on the guitar, until they… stop.
The last piece doesn’t fit here naturally and is personal self-indulgence – a Bonus Track, if you like. Several songs nominated this week celebrated musicians, bands, fans, managers and the unacknowledged road crew who move the shows from town to city to country. One nomination, Neil Young’s eerie, wracked “Tonight’s The Night”, is his lament for his dead friend Bruce Berry. Berry, who died from a heroin overdose, was Young’s personal roadie. This tribute has been described elsewhere as a “dark masterpiece”, and it seems an appropriate point to draw the curtain on this topic.
The Actively Working A-list Playlist:
1. Buck 65 - Craftsmanship
2. Elliott Smith – Junk Bond Trader
3. Glasvegas - Geraldine
4. Richard Dawson – Civil Servant
5. Kacey Musgraves – Blowin’ Smoke
6. The Pogues - Navigator
7. Elbow – The Loneliness Of A Tower Crane Driver
8. The Bevis Frond – Stoned Train Driver
9. The Whitlams – I Make Hamburgers
10. The Beatles – Lovely Rita
11. St Vincent – Actor Out Of Work
12. Richard & Linda Thompson – The Great Valerio
13. Neil Young – Tonight’s The Night (Part 1)
The Getting Even Busier B-list Playlist:
1. Hoodoo Gurus – I Was A Kamikaze Pilot
2. Webb Wilder – Human Cannonball
3. Nico Wayne Toussaint – Mali Mississippi
4. Brooklyn Funk Enterprises - Recycled
5. Talking Heads – Found A Job
6. Angélique Kidjo - Tombo
7. Charlie Parr – Cheap Wine
8. Mark Kozelek & Jimmy LaValle - Gustavo
9. The Unthanks – Nobody Knew She Was There
10. Patrice Holloway – Those DJ Shows
11. Blotto – I Wanna Be A Lifeguard
12. Belle & Sebastian – Lazy Line Painter Jane
13. Robb Johnson – Bob Crow
Guru’s Wildcard Picks:
Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band – Ella Guru
Television Personalities – We Will Be Your Gurus
T.Rex – Metal Guru
Xmas Bonus Z-List Playlist:
1. Roger Daltrey – One Man Band
2. John Cale – Chinese Envoy
3. Clive Gregson & Christine Collister – I Specialise
4. Iron + Wine – Woman King
5. Richie Havens – Indian Rope Man
6. The Wailing Souls – Mr Fire Coal Man
7. Cotton Mather – Camp Hill Rail Operator
8. The Loud Family – Sword Swallower
9. Voice Of The Beehive – Waitress
10. The Spencer Davis Group – Time Seller [NB. not a real job …]
11. Johnny Burton – Polevault Man
12. Lal & Mike Waterson – The Magical Man
13. Johnny Ryan – The Man That Waters The Workers’ Beer
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Vote labour: choose songs about different jobs. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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