Starting a new job is never easy. Even if you’re entering your dream career, there’s always the chance of being shaken with perplexing confusion, the hassle of trying to suss out your co-workers, alongside making a good impression on your first day.
Whether you resent your unemployment or are just about to start your first day at a new job, our list of songs about getting a job is crammed full of that energy you need to get up and go every morning, inspiring you to be the best you can be in your new workplace.
Songs About Getting A Job
1. Britney Spears – Work Bitch
Britney Spears’ club hit, Work Bitch, is a modern landmark in pop music, inciting the burning motivation to work for yourself and succeed in whatever job you hold.
Her track is packed with the driving energy you need to power through the most bleak and overwhelming work days, impassioned with the self-confidence you need to repel all sign of fear and stress as you start your new job.
Work Bitch is spurred by a luxurious sense of materialism, power and the dream of boundless success, “You want a Lamborghini? Sip martinis? Look hot in a bikini? You better work bitch.”
This is a song for manifesting your glittering fortune with star-studded pride and glory, while rising far above and beyond the grim expectations of your condescending colleagues.
2. The Miracles – Got A Job
Got A Job is the classic debut doo-wop single by The Miracles, released in 1958. Their story details being pestered by your man to put in your side of the share, provoking you to get a new job. But work isn’t all about piling stacks of money as Britney Spears’ hit suggests.
The Miracles give a realistic insight into the life of a late 50’s shop assistant, crafting their lyrics in a way which calls to any worker’s distaste of their boss.
They list the endless tasks thrown their way, “Get the boxes, take ‘em to the basement, do the right job or I’ll get a replacement, get the mop and clean the dirty floors, and when you’re finished, wipe the windows and doors,” while anchoring each chorus with optimistic truth despite the insanity of their boss’ attitude, “I’ll never, never, never quit my brand new job.”
3. The Offspring – Why Don’t
The Offpring’s twist on the concept tells a tongue-in-cheek story of two different, but very similar relationships. Why Don’t You Get A Job is centred around the imbalance that decimates relationships when one partner works and the other doesn’t.
They sum up the mountainous resentment perfectly, “She sits on her ass, he works his hands to the bone, to give her money every pay day … I guess it ain’t easy doing nothing at all, but hey man, free rides just don’t come along every day,” while setting their break-up song against an ironically happy tune, discreetly mirroring and condescending the childish nature of someone who wants to stay unemployed.+
This is a loud-mouthed anthem for anyone feeling fired up to leave their unemployed lover who refuses to take care of themselves.
4. Money – Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd’s iconic prog rock track Money glints with a multitude of cash machine samples which set a golden tone within their track.
Pink Floyd revel in the benefits of a new job, illustrating the freedom of luxury that follows hard work and tireless commitment, “Money, it’s a gas, grab that cash with both hands and make a stash, new car caviar, four star daydream, think I’ll buy me a football team.”
Money is threaded together with the underlying theme that the money you get in return for your devotion is yours, and anyone who wants some should put in their own work to attain it, “I’m alright Jack, keep your hands off of my stack… Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie.”
This track was written for anyone buzzing for their first pay day and the opportunities it will effortlessly open up.
5. The Clash – Career Opportunities
The Clash’s punk track pessimistically lists all the new jobs a man could get, from the perspective of the disillusioned youth who can’t see a point in any profession presented to them.
Career Opportunities is the soundtrack to an era decimated by an unemployment crisis and a bleak view of the future; “career opportunities are the ones that never knock, every job they offer is to keep you out the dock.”
The Clash capture anarchistic views of what it means to work as a pawn for the state, when you know it’s those very people you’re working for who are ruining the country around you;
“They offered me the office, offered me the shop, they said I’d better take anything they’d got, do you wanna make tea at the BBC, do you really wanna be a cop?”
Career Opportunities is an anthem for anyone being forced to get a new job, who knows that it’s inherently meaningless since society is crumbling around you anyway.
6. The Futureheads – First Day
This fresh indie rock track by the Futureheads is a stunning insight into a first day on the job.
Their sound stylishly mimics the disruptive confusion of a first day at work as they highlight the excruciating rapidity of a commercial pace which wears you down from the moment you set foot in the door.
First Day cleverly embeds the deceitful attitude of a manager during your welcoming, contrasted by their cut-throat, unachievable expectations and disappointment as you hurtle through an already perplexing day;
“Welcome to your new job, hope you are having a wonderful first day, we are so happy to have you join the team … And they say faster, faster, it’s time to take you to the next stage, but it’s only your first day, and you’re not ready for the next stage, and they say faster, faster.”
7. Games We Play – Get A Job
Games We Play craft their pop-punk track to self-depreciatingly represent teens battling with parental pressure to get a job, when all they want to do is be a rockstar.
Get A Job mocks the words of every disapproving parent, “You should get a f****** job,” while retaliating with the carefree, rebellious confidence which empowers every musician on their journey, “I don’t wanna be like you, I wanna sing my songs… I don’t wanna save my money, wanna blow it all on whatever the f*** I want, getting older, never growing up.”
Games We Play makes concrete the concept that your new job doesn’t have to be the ‘proper’ one your parents want you to get; being a rockstar can be just as valid a new job as any other.