# Occupations in Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 30, 2020, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901 "2020-04-30T15:19:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/81 "2020-05-01T02:59:23Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > Jim Croce got the Working At the Car Wash Blues. > [@Oakminster](#): > > And he sang about Rapid Roy the Stockcar Boy and Tuffy the Roller Derby Queen. > [@Chefguy](#): > > [Operator](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RA4MykPm4s) - Jim Croce singing to a telephone operator Trucker song by Croce-[Speedball Tucker](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEo06UdN9vI) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/82 "2020-05-01T03:18:24Z")
_Mississippi Queen_ - Mountain Pretty sure she was a prostitute. [The Humans Are Dead](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1BdQcJ2ZYY) - Flight of the Conchords being robots [Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenocerous](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FArZxLj6DLk) - Flight of the Conchords claiming to be rap singers ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/83 "2020-05-01T03:21:15Z")
If we’re allowing musical theatre, there’s a great song about being a [dentist](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOtMizMQ6oM) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/84 "2020-05-01T03:38:32Z")
Weird Al [Truck Driving Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdQHRxH82PM&list=OLAK5uy_ngZZYN665PaETTb1vKxYKpJ3Qr4IXP9So&index=10) [Pretty Fly For A Rabbi](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usPkL2EQPYo&list=OLAK5uy_ngZZYN665PaETTb1vKxYKpJ3Qr4IXP9So&index=3) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/85 "2020-05-01T03:41:38Z")
_Lady Marmalade_ - another hooker ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/86 "2020-05-01T03:54:55Z")
_Gris-gris Gumbo Ya Ya_ and _I Walk on Gilded Splinters_ by Dr. John - Voodoo priest ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/87 "2020-05-01T04:07:24Z")
I always thought Lawyers, Guns, and Money was about some preppy brat who’d gotten into way over their head while wasting away in some foreign country. “Dad, get me out of this.” Which I guess makes it even more appropriate if it were about the CIA. More Zevon. [Seminole Bingo](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ABxbuI5Zufo) is narrated by a “junk-bond king” on the run from the SEC, and who falls “in love with the ping pong balls.” [_Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)_](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eUb0C0iI_GE) is about a hockey ‘goon’, who plays a lengthy career in professional hockey, but never got a chance to score a goal. Until one night… Siouxsie and The Banshees, “[Peek-A-Boo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGH_16SICL0)”, is about a dancer in a peepshow. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/88 "2020-05-01T04:26:46Z")
Ebony Eyes by Everly Brothers mentions the chaplain, the airline flight desk agent, and the flight PA announcer Don Williams, Good Ole Boys Like me, learned to talk like “the man on the 6 oclock news” Marvelettes, Please Mr Postman Shirelles, "Soldier Boy. BJ the DJ Tennessee Ernie Ford, coal miner, 16 Tons Jimmy Driftwood implies the profession of “pretty girls from France” that the victorious soldiers danced with after “Batttle of New Orleans” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/89 "2020-05-01T04:29:23Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > _Lawyers Guns and Money_ is about a spy, (I think) I always thought it was about a drug dealer. Some guy in his twenties who thought he could make a lot of money and got in way over his head. “The Russians” are members of a gang. If the guy was a spy, he’d be calling his controller for help rather than his Dad. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/90 "2020-05-01T04:42:38Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > And, well, [unemployed](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=taking+care+of+business), but he loves to work at nothing all day. I think you have that backwards: he’s a guy who commutes to a 9-to-5 job who would love to be a musician because they don’t do any real work (it’s as easy as fishin’). ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/91 "2020-05-01T05:05:30Z")
[Who Takes Care of the Caretaker’s Daughter](https://youtu.be/fZ4I4CY0GzI) mentions several other jobs as well. [When I’m Cleaning Windows](https://youtu.be/sfmAeijj5cM) [I’m The Girl Who Makes The Thing](https://youtu.be/2xrfbKTG_xE) [Ol’ Man River](https://youtu.be/eh9WayN7R-s) (tote that barge, lift that bale) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/92 "2020-05-01T05:06:01Z")
_You Don’t Mess Around With Jim_, by Jim Croce - pool hustlers _The Gambler_, by Kenny Rodgers - a gambler ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/93 "2020-05-01T08:19:12Z")
Armoured car driver - Blondie _[‘Hardest part’](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hardest_Part_(Blondie_song))_ - ‘the hardest part of the armoured car - big man of steel behind the steering wheeeeeel’. Secretaries - Dolly Parton - ‘_9 to 5_’. Artist-sculptor - Dire Straits - ‘_In the Gallery_’ [album - _Sultans of Swing_] Anthropologist - Floyd Red Crow Westerman - ‘[Here come the anthros](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWaI9UZ-LYw)’ Kamikaze pilot - Hoodoo Gurus - ‘_I was a kamikaze pilot_’ [album - _Stoneage Romeos_] President - Paul Simon - ‘_Loves me like a rock_’ ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/94 "2020-05-01T11:33:12Z")
Not a character from a song, but one of my favorite words. From The Spirit of Radio by Rush there is salesmen. Another favorite word is Roxanne, who is a prostitute. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/95 "2020-05-01T12:48:27Z")
Harry Chapin’s _A Better Place to Be_ - the protagonist is the midnight watchman (down at Miller’s Tool and Die). And _50,000 Pounds of Bananas_ is about a truck driver. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/96 "2020-05-01T13:08:38Z")
Now Jack, he is a banker, And Jane, she is a clerk. (_Sweet Jane_) ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/97 "2020-05-01T13:08:58Z")
There’s the Sam Cooke classic song [Chain Gang](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmZdvVnMXCc) that is about men working on a chain gang, complete with their grunts. Or [Big Bad John](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN3exiuyQJc), the coal miner who “saved 21 men from a would-be grave” in a shaft collapse. And of course that leads to [John Henry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k23yjt4Nzn8), that mighty steel-drivin’ man with a hammer in his hand, but that’s basically a folk song, if that counts. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/98 "2020-05-01T13:15:16Z")
Ernie Ford’s classic song [Sixteen Tons](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5VMZqgVzRo) doesn’t specify a job, but it’s clearly about someone doing manual labor with a shovel at a mine for low wages (“_I owe my soul to the company store…_”) Johnny Horton has a similar sounding song from the same era, [North To Alaska](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUZGWjv1L68) (from the soundtrack of the movie of the same name), is about Sam McCord (who “was a mighty man in the year of nineteen-one”) who was a gold prospector in the Yukon Territory “just a little southeast of Nome”. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/99 "2020-05-01T13:17:10Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Several by Fountains of Wayne: > > Bright Future In Sales > California Sex Lawyer > Karpet King (carpet installer) > Halley’s Waitress > Comedienne > Someone to Love (lawyer, photo retoucher) > Yolanda Hayes (DMV clerk) > Traffic and Weather (TV anchors) > Richie and Ruben (bar owners) Also, _Hackensack_: I used to work in a record store Now I work for my dad Scraping the paint off of hard wood floors And from the Replacements, _Waitress In the Sky_ (flight attendant). ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2020, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901/100 "2020-05-01T13:27:16Z")
Here’s a fun one: CAKE has a song [Comfort Eagle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1Z8O7VQKJI) about the cynical packaging and marketing side of the music industry. Which is also the topic of Billy Joel’s song, [The Entertainer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0bQcQLftFM). (“I know the game, and you’ll forget my name - I won’t be here in another year, if I don’t stay on the charts”) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/occupations-in-songs/852901.md?page=6)