BS: The Working Man

Subject: BS: The Working Man
From: Ed T
Date: 13 Feb 12 - 04:22 PM

I often see singers, poets, politicians affectionately refer to "the working man".

A few country singers have asked "what ever happened to the working man". These singers-dudes often wear cowboy hats, drive pick up trucks in their music videos and wear blue jeans, one time "the working mans" workwear. They look like they are working at some sweaty job,. But, looks aren't always what they seem.

If you (are a man) have a job, and work, are you not a working man, regardless of what you do at your job? Those who sit all day working on a computer, or sit all day in a truck, a fork lift, a factory, or on a tractor, they are all working.

So, what's with that question, and the suggestion that unless you work in some traditional sweaty job, you aint working?

Subject: RE: BS: The Working Man
From: Bert
Date: 13 Feb 12 - 04:33 PM

Nowadays it would be the out-of-working man.

Subject: RE: BS: The Working Man
From: Ed T
Date: 13 Feb 12 - 04:57 PM

I like the song suggestion:
The out-of-working-mans blues

Lyrics anyone?

Subject: RE: BS: The Working Man
From: gnomad
Date: 13 Feb 12 - 05:26 PM

The term would indeed embrace most of the adult male populace, if simply taken at face value. Right up to the chief exec and politician types earning being paid prodigious sums to do a very questionable amount of 'work'.

As used in song and verse the term is generally a shorthand for the (predominantly manual) labouring, probably lower-paid, masses. The shorthand is imprecise, but necessary, as a full description of the employment circumstances of the working man would otherwise overwhelm the purpose of the composition, besides being a bugger to put into verse.

Subject: RE: BS: The Working Man
From: frogprince
Date: 13 Feb 12 - 06:26 PM

Re country singers and the working man: This is "Forty Hour Week" credited only as "by Alabama", who recorded it, on any source I can find. It's certainly well intentioned, but: do you know any auto workers who have normally worked only a 40 hour week? And the idea of a farmer surviving by working a 40 hour week is about a laugh.

There are people in this country who work hard every day
Not for fame or fortune do they strive
But the fruits of their labor are worth more than their pay
And it's time a few of them were recognized

Hello Detroit auto worker, let me thank you for your time
You work a forty hour week for a livin', just to send it on down the line
Hello Pittsburgh steel mill worker, let me thank you for your time
You work a forty hour week for a livin', just to send it on down the line

This is for the one who swings the hammer, driving home the nail
For the one behind the counter, ringing up the sales
For the one who fights the fires, the one who brings the mail
For everyone who works behind the scenes

You can see them every morning in the factories and the fields
In the city streets and the quiet country towns
Working together like spokes inside a wheel
They keep this country turning around

Hello Kansas wheat field farmer, let me thank you for your time
You work a forty hour week for a livin', just to send it on down the line
Hello West Virginia coal miner, let me thank you for your time
You work a forty hour week for a livin', just to send it on down the line

This is for the one who drives the big rig, up and down the road
For the one out in the warehouse, bringing in the load
For the waitress, the mechanic, the policeman on patrol
For everyone who works behind the scenes

With a spirit you can't replace with no machine
Hello America let me thank you for your time

Subject: RE: BS: The Working Man
From: GUEST,olddude
Date: 13 Feb 12 - 06:54 PM

I really like the country music guys with the worn out blue jeans and 800 dollar snake skin boots, and 500 dollar hat :-) working men I guess roping cows for a living right

Subject: RE: BS: The Working Man
From: pdq
Date: 13 Feb 12 - 07:03 PM

By looking up the Alabama song up with the proper title "40 Hour Week (For a Livin')" it seems to have been written by Dave Loggins and Don Schlitz (of "The Gambler" fame), and recorded in 1984.

In this case "working man" is used as a synonym to "blue collar" worker.

It's always seemed odd that Merl Haggard is famous for his "Working Man's Blues", but he does not seem to have worked a day in his life (unless you consider music work).

Subject: RE: BS: The Working Man
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 14 Feb 12 - 06:18 AM

"Well, I gets up in the morning when the clock strikes eight.
I'm always punctual, never ever late.
With a nice cup of tea, a little round of toast,
I do the best I can.
'Cos I'm only a-doing what a bloke should do
'Cos I'm only a working man!"

Charlie Drake "The Worker" 1965

"Thank you Mr Peeeyoooo!"

Subject: RE: BS: The Working Man
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 14 Feb 12 - 01:31 PM

I had an uncle who thought that way.

He said, "I don't see how a man can sit at a desk all day and then say he's tired."

Hey, if you disagree with that statement, you don't need to explain it to me. I get it. I've quoted that line before, and I know how people react.

I'm only reporting what my uncle said. And my uncle is no longer around to hear your protests.

By the way, that same uncle retired early and lived very cheaply off partial disability payments, in a house with no plumbing. He didn't look disabled to me; I'm sure he could have handled a desk job if he wanted one, and if anybody wanted to hire him. He went fishing a lot. Even my father, his brother, doubted that his claim to be disabled was legitimate. He had been wounded in WW2, but seemed to have completely recovered.

Hey, I don't blame him for working the system, but he was not in a good position to call other men lazy.

Subject: RE: BS: The Working Man
From: Wesley S
Date: 14 Feb 12 - 01:36 PM

There seem to be a lot of songs about the working man. And only a few about working women. And no - I don't mean the women who work on street corners at night.

Subject: RE: BS: The Working Man
From: mg
Date: 15 Feb 12 - 08:52 AM

we are colleacting songs for a cd aboutg people..men and women..who work in canneries, fish processing, etc...will probably be more women than men....let us know of any songs along that vein. mg

Subject: RE: BS: The Working Man
From: number 6
Date: 15 Feb 12 - 09:48 AM

I like the Gibson Working Man 45 Acoustic Guitar. An acoustic guitar that any real working man cannot afford.

biLL