Joyful Tune of the Damned

Okay, this post really shows the breadth of what this blog might cover. For the first time in many a year I heard Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" on the radio. There's a certain modicum of childhood nostalgia there; the song was a big hit when it came out in 1980. However, in listening to the actual lyrics for perhaps the first time, I was mesmerized by how they're actually quite depressing:

Workin' nine to five
What a way to make a livin'
Barely gettin' by
It's all takin' and no givin'
They just use your mind
And they never
give you credit
It's enough to drive you
Crazy if you let it

Nine to five, for service and devotion
You would think that I
Would deserve a fair promotion
Want to move ahead
But the boss won't
seem to let me
I swear sometimes that man is out to get me

They let you dream
Just a' watch 'em shatter
You're just a step
On the boss man's ladder
But you got dreams he'll never take away

And then there's this little bit from the end:

Nine to five, yeah
They got you where they want you
There's a better life
And you think about it, don't you?
It's a rich man's game
No matter what they call it
And you spend your life
Puttin' money in his wallet

I just can't help imagining huge crowds singing blissfully along with this in concert, taking a certain amount of pride in knowing that "Hey! I work a 9-to-5 job. She's singing about me. Yay!"