Dues songs

Cafe Society
1

Or, the songs where rock n’ roll bands go on about the joys, sorrows, trials and tribulations of their performing/recording lives.

I’ve never been too fond of this genre, as the performers tend to come off as self-indulgent, whiny, boastful or sometimes all three.

My pick for all-time worst dues song is Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s Takin’ Care Of Business, in which the lead singer sneers about all the poor saps struggling to commute to their 9-to-5 jobs, while the band lays around, parties and does no work at all. Which, given the quality of BTO’s music, we can readily believe.

Also loathsome is Grand Funk Railroad’s We’re An American Band, which celebrates property destruction and groupies, and contains possibly the worst line in all of rock and roll, namely:

The hotel detective he was out of sight!

Honorable mention goes to Bob Seger’s Turn The Page, wherein he labors mightily traveling around and performing, only to have yahoos make fun of his long hair when he goes out in public. Poor, poor Bob.

Actually there are a few pretty good dues songs. I like the Who’s Long Live Rock even though the lyrics are not awe-inspiring:

We were the first band to vomit in the bar
And find the distance to the stage too far

Also decent are All The Way From Memphis by Mott the Hoople and Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple, in which they didn’t actually destroy anything but got to watch someone else do it.

There is a sub-genre of OK dues songs where the artists sing about fictional performers who discover the negative side of their lives (or are about to). In this category is Duchess by Genesis and Tom Petty’s “Into The Great Wide Open”.

Finally there’s my favorite dues song, Get A Haircut And Get A Real Job, George Thorogood’s rocker about all the people who put him down and how he gets the last laugh, especially on his righteous big brother Bob.

Other good and rotten dues songs I missed?

2

“Cover of the Rolling Stone” by Doctor Hook comes to mind. The song actually landed them on the Rolling Stone cover.

3

Lodi – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Don’t ask me no questions – Lynard Skynard.

Buncha’ whiners.

4

AC/DC’s “It’s a Long Way to the Top If You Wanna Rock n’ Roll”

A number of cuts off of David Bowie’s “Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust” album.

5

Billy Bragg’s *Waiting For The Great Leap Forward *surely qualifies, and is excellent.
Also, Bauhaus’ Spirit.

6

I was always a little put off by Jackson Browne’s “The Load-Out,” which begins:

*Now the seats
Are all empty
And the roadies take the stage
Packin’ up and tearin’ down

They’re the first to come
And the last to leave
Workin’ for that minimum wage…*

If he’s so touched by their plight, why doesn’t he give them a raise?

7

My thoughts too. I like Jackson Browne quite a bit, but I hate that song.

I do like “Turn The Page”, though. I like the melancholy sound of it.

Anyway, my contribution to the list:

“Shooting Star” by Bad Company

8

I’ll add “Homeward Bound” by Simon and Garfunkle.

9

Boston: Rock & Roll Band

10

I’ll echo the disdain for JB’s “The Load-Out”. It just drones on and on.

Pink Floyd’s “Have a Cigar” was supposedly based on real events.

Boston’s “Rock & Roll Band” was not.

11

The Byrds did So You Want To Be A Rock And Roll Star, which falls toward the self-indulgent/self-pitying part of the spectrum. Not a bad tune though. It was covered by various others including Patti Smith and Tom Petty.

12

Toby Keith’s “How do you like me now?” is a self-indulged piece of dreck.

Foreigner’s “Jukebox Hero” is an obvious, “Wow this music making is really hard work” song.

13

I’ve always interpreted Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty” as a rock-star-life song. The road is rushing under the wheels of his tour bus, and he doesn’t “know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels.” “This life” could be a number of things, but that’s my take. If you put it in the genre, maybe it makes up for “The Load-Out”.

14

Kinks - Life on the Road

15

Bon Jovi-= Wanted Dead or Alive

16

“Come Monday” by Jimmy Buffet is kind of nice - talks about how he’s looking forward to seeing his chick when he gets home from touring.

17

“Honky Tonk Music,” written by George Hawke, performed by both Hoyt Axton and Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen:

Every night I work the places
Neon lights and lonely faces
People laugh and drink away
the evening while I play
I ask myself why do I do it
I guess there must be something to it
Getting paid for doing something
I’d be doing anyway

18

I am embarassed to say that I like “Rock Star” by Nickelback, but if you take it as tongue-in-cheek, which the amazing video seems to reinforce, it is actually quite listenable.

BUT, the best all-time “dues” song is the absolutely spectacular “Wasted Rock Ranger” by Great White.

Excerpt:

19

I always think Turn The Page is whiny. Waaaa waaaa, I’m a rock star.

I was gonna quote some lyrics to comment on, but found these and was terribly amused, so I’ll post them instead:

20

My bold. I always heard it as “is that a woman or a man / you always seem outnumbered”. Either way, it’s not great poetry, but I don’t mind the whining.