I know you are looking for serious answers, but some wisdom-in-song you might enjoy is Pat Donohue's parody of "Would You Like to Swing On A Star?"
It's called, "Would You Like to Play The Guitar?"

One verse goes,
Would you like to play the guitar,
carry money home in a jar
From a coffee house or a bar--
Or would you rather have a job?

Another great line is
Would you like to play the guitar for a living (Har-de-har-har!)?

I think the lyrics are here in a forum thread at Mudcat.

Good luck.

Genie