Here are a few I thought of:

Lovely Rita (Meter Maid) - The Beatles

Mr. Tambourine Man - Bob Dylan

Mr. Bass Man - Johnny Cymbal

Mr. Spaceman - The Byrds

Mr. Postman - The Marvelettes

Jazzman - Carole King

Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves - Cher

Soldier Boy - The Shirelles

The Pied Piper - Crispian St. Peters

Money for nothing - Dire Straits

Banana boat song(Day O) - Belafonte

16 Tons - T.E. Ford

We dig dig dig dig dig dig dig from early morn till night
We dig dig dig dig dig dig dig up everything in sight
We dig up diamonds by the score
A thousand rubies, sometimes more
But we don't know what we dig 'em for
We dig dig dig a-dig dig

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho
Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho
Heigh-ho

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho
It's home from work we go
(Whistle)

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho
It's home from work we go
(Whistle)

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho
(Whistle)

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho
Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho
Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho
Heigh-ho hum

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho
It's home from work we go
(Whistle)

Michelle Shocked - The L and N Don't Stop Here Anymore

Bruce Springsteen - Working on the Highway

Bruce Springsteen - My Hometown

Billy Joel - Allentown

Billy Joel - Piano Man

Jackson Browne - Shaky Town

Jackson Browne - The Load Out

Rita MacNeil - Working Man

China Crisis - Working With Fire and Steel

Depeche Mode - Working On The Pipeline

John Mellencamp - Pink Houses

John Mellencamp - Rain On The Scarecrow

quote:

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Originally posted by Fidel:

16 Tons - T.E. Ford

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I'll see your "16 tons" and raise you a "Nine-Pound Hammer."

quote:

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Workin' In A Coal Mine - Lee Dorsey

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"Dark as a Dungeon Way Down in the Mine" -Johhny Cash

(I worked underground for two years; this tune nails it)

[ 03 November 2008: Message edited by: al-Qa'bong ]

A couple of guys on my crew (one the Dad of a former NHLer) just missed being flattened by a huge piece of loose right at the face. The ground is usually pretty safe and solid right after being cut, which makes this a strange case.

The miner operator was tramming to the face to cut first pass, and the belt operator had just pulled the exhaust tubing behind the brattice (on the left side of the conveyor) and jumped back over the belt to the right side when the back dropped, covering most of the left side of the belt.

Neither guy was touched, but the compression of the air blew the operator's gloves off. Both guys were so spooked that they just sat at the bottom of the shaft until the shift ended.

[ 04 November 2008: Message edited by: al-Qa'bong ]

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"Dark as a Dungeon Way Down in the Mine" -Johhny Cash

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I've never been down a mine, but I just knew this song "nailed it" when I first heard it on my brother's copy of "Folsom Prison Blues". And it was a "new release" at the time.

And you know what? It's one of the very few songs I can do justice to with my voice.

"Takin Care of Business" is actually about not working. A better BTO song about work is a personal anthem of mine, "Blue Collar". If you've ever worked night shift-- not swinging through but as a permanent thing-- it's your song.

"The air is clear under diamond skies and I'm glad to be alive."

"Little Black Fly" comes to mind as a song about both work and Nordern Hontario.

And, dealing in illicit substances can be a job, and a family business, as witnessed in Steve Earl's "Copperhead Road".

Stompin' Tom... it might be quicker to list the song he wrote that wern't about work.

Then there's CCR's "The Workin' Man."

You missed the obvious: I'se the B'y.

For shame, Lard, for shame.

Now my grandfather was a sailor
He blew in off the water
My father was a farmer
And I, his only daughter
Took up with a no good millworking man
From Massachusetts
Who dies from too much whiskey
And leaves me these three faces to feed

Millwork ain't easy
Millwork ain't hard
Millwork it ain't nothing
But an awful boring job
I'm waiting (on) a daydream
To take me through the morning
And put me in my coffee break
Where I can have a sandwich
And remember

Then it's me and my machine
For the rest of the morning
(and) the rest of the afternoon
And the rest of my life

Now my mind begins to wander
To the days back on the farm
I can see my father smiling at me
Swinging on his arm
I can hear my granddad's stories
Of the storms out on Lake Eerie
Where vessels and cargos and fortunes
And sailors' lives were lost

(Yeah), but it's my life has been wasted
And I have been the fool
To let this manufacturer
Use my body for a tool
(I'll) ride home every evening
Staring at my hands
Swearing to my sorrow that a young girl
Ought to stand a better chance

So may I work your mills just as long as I am able
And never meet the man whose name is on the label

Schoolday's over, come on then John
Time to be getting your pit boots on
On with your sack and moleskin trousers
It's time you were on your way
Time you were learning the pitman's job
And earning the pitman's pay

Come on then Jim, it's time to go
Time you were working down below
Time to be handling a pick and shovel
You'll start at the pits today
Time you were learning the collier's job
And earning the collier's pay

Come on then Dai, it's almost light
Time you were off to the anthracite
The morning mist is on the valley
It's time you were on your way
Time you were learning the miner's job
And earning the miner's pay

This place has changed for good
Your economic theory said it would
It's hard for us to understand
We can't give up our jobs the way we should
Our blood has stained the coal
We tunneled deep inside the nation's soul
We matter more than pounds and pence
Your economic theory makes no sense

One day in a nuclear age
They may understand our rage
They build machines that they can't control
And bury the waste in a great big hole
Power was to become cheap and clean
Grimy faces were never seen
Deadly for twelve thousand years is carbon fourteen
We work the black seam together
We work the black seam together

The seam lies underground
Three million years of pressure packed it down
We walk through ancient forest lands
And light a thousand cities with our hands
Your dark satanic mills
Have made redundant all our mining skills
You can't exchange a six inch band
For all the poisoned streams in Cumberland

One day in a nuclear age
They may understand our rage
They build machines that they can't control
And bury the waste in a great big hole
Power was to become cheap and clean
Grimy faces were never seen
Deadly for twelve thousand years is carbon fourteen
We work the black seam together
We work the black seam together

And should the children weep
The turning world will sing their souls to sleep
When you have sunk without a trace
The universe will suck me into place

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Originally posted by Tommy_Paine:
"Takin Care of Business" is actually about not working[/URL]

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I can't find the video that I know exists of her singing it, so here is Pete Seeger's version:

I don't remember the words to the whole song, and it's not available online, but here's the words to the chorus:

1. Oh, why don't you work
Like other men do?
How the hell can I work
When the skies are so blue?
Chorus:
Hallelujah! I'm a bum,
Hallelujah bum again,
Hallelujah! give us a handout
To revive us again.

2. Oh, I love my boss
And my boss loves me,
And that is the reason
I'm so hungry.

3. Well, springtime has come
And I'm just out of jail,
Without any money,
Without any bail.

4. Oh why don't you save all
The money you earn?
Well if I didn't eat,
I'd have money to burn.

5. Oh, I like my boss,
He's a good friend of mine,
And that's why I'm standing
Out in the breadline.

6. I can't buy a job
'cause I ain't got the dough
So I ride in a boxcar
'cause I'm a hobo.

7. I went to a house and
I knocked on the door,
The lady said, "Scram, bum,
You've been here before!"

8. I went to a house, and
I asked for some bread;
A lady came out, says,
"The baker is dead."

9. I went to a bar and
I asked for a drink,
They gave me a glass
And they showed me the sink.

10. Oh why don't you work
Like other folks do?
How can I get a job
When you're holding down two?

11. Whenever I get all
The money I earn,
The boss will be broke
And to work he must turn.

12. When springtime does come,
Oh won't we have fun,
We'll throw up our jobs
And we'll go on the bum.

And Murray McLaughlin wrote many classics, such as Hard Rock Town and The Farmer Song. But my favorite is On The Boulevard, about the quiet desperation of city dwellers

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Sellin' shoes in the afternoon
Makin' french-fries in a greasy spoon
The assembly line keeps turnin'
Until they make you swoon
And it always won't be long
'Til somethin' better comes alomg

Did you see them on the Boulevard
Did you see them on the Promenade
When the lights come on
They can forget
That they ever had to work so hard

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Look at me I'm self-employed
I love to work at nothing all day

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Now, it can be said that the previous two stanza's above those lines describe work, or more specifically, the commute to work and work associated behaviors.

What do you make of this stanza, Tommy? Personally, I think I might not starve as a fisherman, if I had to choose.

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Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Randy Bachman has become a legendary figure in the rock and roll world through his talents as a guitarist, songwriter, performer and producer. He has earned over 120 Gold and Platinum album/singles awards . . .

Randy's career has been built upon his unstoppable drive to work at creating music. He has released numerous solo albums throughout his career, and has simultaneously worked at producing for other artists. His production/writing work with Canadian rock band Trooper generated gold and platinum record in the 1970's.

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aHA! I didn't realize it all those times hearing it played, but I realize only now they were fuckin' with us.

[ 06 November 2008: Message edited by: Fidel ]

Minimum Wage Strike -- David Rovics

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When I awoke one morning
There was a feeling in the air
Everything was quiet
Things were different everywhere
The Wobblies were back again
With Joe Hill at the mike
When all the minimum-wage workers went on strike

There was no one flipping burgers
All the grills were cold
Onion rings were in their bags
Fries were growing mold
There were no baristas at Starbucks
Asking, "how many shots would you like?"
When all the minimum-wage workers went on strike

There was no one pumping gasoline
No one driving from town to town
No one at the registers
All the highways were shut down
The cars were stuck in their garage
Businessmen on bikes
When all the minimum-wage workers went on strike

The fruit was falling off the trees
No one to load the trucks
Corn was rotting on the stalk
No farm hands to shuck
The workfare workers were hanging at home
Spending the day with their tykes
When all the minimum-wage workers went on strike

Yuppie parents were housebound
Their nannies left the job
Wal-Mart workers said enough
Of our labor has been robbed
The Foot Locker was locked up
The boss had to take a hike
When all the minimum-wage workers went on strike

(Repeat first verse)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-O665wmJhQ

Telegraph Road by Dire Straights (no work)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgYzzJWW4nY

Daysleeper by REM (for the night shift)

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What do you make of this stanza, Tommy?

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Well, it's rock and roll, not a work by Milton where every word is painstakingly sellected to convey a certain meaning, mood, and depressing mindset until you just wish your English Teacher's head would explode and splatter the classroom walls with gore.

I mean, sometimes mountains come out of the sky and stand there. Which is a roundabout way of saying that it doesn't have to be perfect, Yes?

Anywho, I just went looking for an interview I found years ago where Bachman told the story around the recording of "Taking Care of Business". Sadly, I can no longer find it. I did find a synopsis written by someone else, but it's not as good as story.

Pizza delivery guy plays piano. Piano works, have to trace down Pizza guy so they can use it on the album.

Chorus:
Union miners, stand together
Do not heed the owner's tale
Keep your hand upon your wages
And your eye upon the scale

I enjoyed singing that to the Miner's Wives Association (that's wives of the brass). Lot's of clenched teeth in that audience.

I sing with a crowd that does a lot of these, especially chanties.

Lot's of coal mining ones "The Coal Town Road", "Blackleg Miner" (not sure how much that is sung in Yellowknife these days).

"Prospect, Providence" about mill work by Keith Marsden
Chorus

Prospect, Providence, Perseverance, Albert, Valley and Crank,
I've spent my time in the dust and grime, with never a word of thanks,
Though the wages were low and the hours were long,
And the gaffers were hard lads, hard
But the last time's coming, thank god, coming soon,
When I'll walk up the damn mill yard.

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I mean, sometimes mountains come out of the sky and stand there.

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Yeah, sorta like Frank Zappa's "Billy the Mountain." Billy did more than just stand around though, unlike the hero of Zappa's "Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station."

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Westray, by Weeping Tile.

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