For many of us the past fortnight has signified a return to work, the daily grind or the daily commute. Whatever you want to call it there is a general sense of deflation from the joys of Christmas and the celebration of a New Year. It is easy to fall into the malaise of routine as the energy begins to disappear and the reality of bills to be paid and unread emails begin to take over the time between waking and heading home.
However, this doesn’t mean that there can’t be joy in the daily grind, taken from the very dated film 9 – 5 Dolly Parton’s title song for the film brings a sense of cheeky country music tone to those days of steady routine. There is the timeless lyric “pour myself a cup of ambition” which speaks to us all about that necessity to get going every day and without a cup of coffee where would any of us be. The simplistic reliance on knowing those thoughts and portraying them as something that can be used as a tune to motivate ourselves to get to work says much not only about the sing itself but the necessity of a positive mindset, certainly Dolly Parton captured more than just the frustration of working in routine but the ability to see that it does not always have to be a terrible life. As an interesting side note the film itself is a wonderful comedy in revenge against a terrible, sexist and egotistical boss and whilst it is very much of its time it is wonderfully acted by actors and actresses clearly enjoying the filming process.
Contrast this sense of fun with a far more introspective analysis of the 9 – 5 by The Clash in Magnificent Seven. Written in 1981 whilst in New York recording Sandinista!, arguably one of their finest albums, the band focused on a monotonous bass loop to set out a dystopian analysis of corporatism and the need to consider what is more important. The wonderful juxtaposition between “knuckle merchants and bankers” places their song squarely on us all whatever work we may do but perhaps the defining moment of the song comes right at the beginning when Joe Strummer sings “Ring Ring 7am move yourself to go again, Cold water in your face brings you back to this awful place”, the inference being that being asleep is a better place, whilst this is classical Clash the remainder of the song ties in the fantastical notion of Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels shopping at a 7-11 again something that Joe Strummer did so well in many of his works.
What both songs show us is that the approach to the ‘9 – 5’ depends on the outlook to the ‘9 – 5’, most people have a motivational song or songs that gets the adrenalin flowing and the creative thought processes buzzing. Recently a media outlets phone in revealed an unusual choice by one listener who went for Back in Black by AC/DC, fundamentally the repetition of “I’m Back” and a killer guitar solo probably would get most people motivated but it wasn’t a song that instinctively has a theme of going back to work having said that it does make a person want to strut around the office kicking in doors and ‘owning’ the work they do after all if you’re using this to motivate as the lyric goes “I’m the one with a bullet and a power pack” will certainly set the marker down that you’re in the ‘zone’.
What then gets a person through this short malaise? Perhaps it is the general idea that we are all working towards something better for ourselves or others but the important thing is the focus on the end goal.
Again if you have any other suggestions feel free to drop a message.
BARRISTER BEATS 