Specially for Lee at Quit Your Day Job... and anyone who might be considering packing it all in and joining me on the scrap heap / glorious golden road to success and riches (delete as applicable).
If you're thinking of taking the plunge, Elvis advises caution. Don't jump till you've got somewhere to jump to...
Well, I quit my job down at the car wash I left my momma a goodbye note By sundown I'd left Kingston With my guitar under my coat I hitchhiked all the way down to Memphis Got a room at the YMCA For the next three weeks I went hunting them nightclubs Looking for a place to play Well, I thought my pickin' would set 'em on fire But nobody wanted to hire a guitar man
You think your job's bad? You could be loading sixteen tons of coal a day with nothing to show for it but being "another day older and deeper in debt".
The Johnny Cash version is also worth a mention. The Johnny Cash version is always worth a mention.
I'm so sick, sick, sick and tired Of working just to be retired I don't want to get that far I don't want your company car Promotions aint my thing Name badges are not interesting It's much easier for me see To stay at home with Richard and Judy
Fans of The Jam (see below) may answer that it sounds a little too familiar...
Well, yes, but there's no need to swear, is there? I'm trying really hard to clean up the language round this blog these days...
Workin' this job is a kick in the pants Workin' this job is like a knife in the back It ain't gettin' me further than the dump I live in It ain't gettin' me further than the next paycheck
Who'd ever have imagined Paul Weller and Alan Jackson would be singing from the same hymn sheet? I guess hating the 9 to 5 really is universal. Hell, just ask Dolly Parton!
It seems a constant struggle just to exist Scrimping and saving and crossing off lists From this window I`ve seen the whole world pass From dawn to dusk I`ve heard the last laugh laughed I`ve seen enough tears to wash away this street I`ve heard wedding bells chime and a funeral march When as one life finishes the other one starts
Alright then love so I`ll be off now It`s back to the lunchbox and worker management rows There`s gotta be more to this old life than this Scrimping and saving and crossing off lists
Considering Morrissey famously sang "I was looking for a job and then I found a job - and heaven knows I'm miserable now", it's no surprise he'd end up writing another song about hating the boss of his record company (Geoff Travis - who apparently did write bloody awful poetry).
Frankly, Mr. Shankly, this position I've held It pays my way but it corrodes my soul...
I want to leave You will not miss me I want to go down in musical history
Who wouldn't feel more fulfilled making Christmas cards for the mentally ill?
Still Mr. Travis might console himself with the knowledge that Morrissey could probably have written the same lyrics about any of the many, many record company bosses he's encountered since leaving Rough Trade. Well, when you go in with that kind of attitude...
There were a lot of country songs on this list, even for a good old boy such as myself, but jacking in your job is obviously a recurring theme in that genre - probably more so than any other. And there's none more direct than this old classic from the aptly named Johnny Paycheck... can you think of anything better to sing as you're walking out the door?
If you can, leave it with your keys in the comments...
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