No More White Pants!

Here at the Modern Pea Pod, we understand the working man. We're not like those spoiled children of privilege over at Stylus, living off their families' wealth and treating pop culture like their own personal playground. Nor are we like those bums who write for Pitchfork and haven't worked an honest day in their lives. And don't even get me started on those freeloaders Brooklyn Vegan. Anyway, my point is, we're just regular folks like you. We've had crappy summer jobs and crappy part-time jobs, and once the bulk of us are out of college with our liberal arts degrees, we'll probably be moving on to crappy full-time jobs, too. In short, we understand the true meaning of Labor Day: to wit, that work sucks, but it's important, and as the famed labor warrior Ray Kroc once said, sometimes, we deserve a break.

But the thing is, why limit that break to just one day at the beginning of September? Do we not call in sick, skip out early, or even just sit at our desks and dream about our next day off all twelve months of the year? This year's Labor Day may have come and gone, but our workplace desires - for life, liberty and the pursuit of paid vacation - should not be expected to lay fallow for the remainder of 2006. That's why we're proud to present to you this Labor Day mixtape: 23 songs about work and the things we do to get out of it. So whether you're into venting your frustrations about that damned Protestant work ethic, or just singing the simple praises of a lazy early-autumn weekend, these are songs we hope will take on a special meaning for you during this, the month when we celebrate our nation's workers. But we're also willing to bet that the sentiments will stay relevant all year round; after all, just because Labor Day is over doesn't mean that your next long weekend will be any easier to leave behind.

- Zach Hoskins

Side A

0:05 - Michael Jackson: "Working Day and Night" (5:14)
We begin our salute to the working man (and woman) with a legendary labor anthem by man of the people Michael Jackson. Zach Hoskins sets the scene: "Now, I'm not about to say that a little hard work ever did anybody harm. But where I come from, 'hard work' comes eight hours a day, 40 hours a week, and any more than that means you're eligible for overtime pay. That's why I sympathize so much with the plight of Michael Jackson in 'Working Day and Night.' Here's a man who works hard for his living - I mean, you don't just invent the moonwalk overnight - only to come home to an uncaring floozy who makes him work even harder, just to keep her from running off with another man. She's got him working from sun up until midnight, and if that sounds like a racy double entendre to you, it's also a clear violation of union codes. Somebody call the AFL-CIO!"
(Available on Off the Wall)

5:19 - Elvis Costello: "This is Hell" (4:27)
Abby Stotz: "Because I currently work in a steaming hot dish room, and because I once made fries at McDonald's, Elvis Costello's 'This is Hell' reminds me of working. The lyrics might not speak about work specifically, but the tone allows for a very easy jump in that direction: 'It never gets better or worse,' he says, and it's true; it's often the monotony of a job that's fatal. Meanwhile the music is dreamy (in a hangover kind of way), and taken together with the words, that effect makes 'This is Hell' an excellent picture of workday burnout."
(Available on Brutal Youth)

9:46 - Magic Sam: "You Don't Have to Work" (2:43)
Ever felt like anything would be better than going to your crappy job for another day - even becoming a kept woman (or man) for a lascivious Chicago bluesman? We don't know for sure whether Jon Cameron has, but he sure knows the perfect song to describe it: "The shiny guitar tones and pleasant brass on this tune kind of hide its creepy misogyny...is Magic Sam telling his woman that all she needs to do is have sex with him and he'll support her? Probably, but it doesn't keep me from enjoying this sweet song."
(Available on The Essential Magic Sam: The Cobra and Chief Recordings 1957-1961)

12:29 - The Police: "Roxanne" (3:14)
And speaking of, um, non-traditional labor arrangements, here's Megan Giddings with a song about how everyone should be allowed to celebrate Labor Day in style...even hookers: "'Roxanne' is my favorite song about Labor Day. While many misinterpret the lyrics to assume that Sting is taking a stance against being a streetwalker, he's actually taking a stance against people working on federal United States holidays. When Sting howls, 'You don't care if it's wrong or if it's right,' it's not about a being a ho. It's about respecting motherfucking Labor Day! Everyone knows there ain't nothing wrong with being a ho. WORD."
(Available on Outlandos d'Amour)

15:43 - Captain Beefheart: "Hard Workin' Man" (3:22)
Zach: "It was recorded for the soundtrack to Paul Schrader's 1978 film Blue Collar, where the combination of its pulse-pounding piston beat, some cinema verite shots of a Detroit factory and a few well-placed freeze frames made for one of the more memorable title sequences in Hollywood history. Its lyrics (by legendary producer Jack Nitzche) deal with the realities of working class life, albeit in somewhat romanticized form. But what's the real reason why 'Hard Workin' Man' reminds us of the reality of, well, hard work? Legend has it that everyone's favorite Dada bluesman, Captain Beefheart, was so insulted by the prospect of recording this standard-issue blues rocker that guitarist Ry Cooder had to actually lock him in the studio to get him to complete a take! Whether that story's true or not, they sure got a hell of a performance out of the Captain; and with the addition of some red-hot slide playing by Cooder himself (a Beefheart veteran from as far back as 1967's Safe as Milk), the result is a Labor Day staple for the ages."
(Available on Blue Collar (OST))

19:05 - Ben Folds: "Fred Jones Part 2" (3:46)
For all that the blue-collar laborers of the world have been lionized - and rightfully so - it's also important to remember that Labor Day is for the white collars as well...and that sometimes the white collars are getting screwed just as bad. Laura Misjak gives us one such story, courtesy of the eminently white-collar singer-songwriter Ben Folds: "It's depressing. It's morbid. It's the dark side of the marketplace economy that we proud Americans enjoy so much. Labor Day - a holiday? More like a celebration of a cutthroat society that will stop at nothing for a slight increase in their quarterly profit."
(Available on Rockin' the Suburbs)

22:51 - David Bowie: "Friday on My Mind" (2:56)
Zach: "Okay, so maybe David Bowie isn't exactly everyone's picture of a hard-working laborer type. But even andrognyous, polysexual extraterrestrial impersonators need to pay the bills somehow, and Bowie's theatrical 1973 cover of the Easybeats' 'Friday on My Mind' is about as eloquent a mash-up of '60s idealism and British working-classing 'living for the weekends' as you could imagine: 'Do the five day drag once more / Know of nothing else that bugs me / more than working for the rich man / Hey I'll change that scene one day / Today I might be mad / Tomorrow I'll be glad / 'Cos I'll have Friday on my mind.' You've gotta admit, too: he's a hell of a lot sexier than Pete Seeger."
(Available on Pin Ups)

25:47 - esQuire: "Brandy and Xanax" (2:57)
As much as Labor Day is a celebration of the well-earned day off, however, there's just one thing we tend to conveniently leave out: how much it can suck to go home and spend time with that family whose absence was the only thing good about your working week in the first place. Now, with the help of a musician who will never obey the "no white pants after Labor Day" rule, Megan addresses this less-discussed aspect of the three-day weekend: "I may have spent most of my Labor Days complaining about having to work on national holidays, but I should also remember the fact that national holidays at home with my family are never that good either. And after listening to the EP from Detroit's esQuire a million times (hey esQuire, where's your full-length?), I'm going to take up the Boy Who Invented Rap's mantra for bad moments. I GOT MY BRANDY. I GOT MY XANAX. Helllo Family Barbeque."
(Available on esQuire's MySpace Page)

28:44 - Joe Jackson: "(Do the) Instant Mash" (3:11)
Zach: "As an on-again, off-again grocery store employee (come over sometime, I'll show you my name badge collection), this charming little tale of mass culture as dehumanization will always be close to my heart. I quote: 'In the supermarket there is music while you work / it drives you crazy, sends you screamin' for the door / I worked there for a year or two and you can get to like it / I don't work in supermarkets anymore.' Amen to that, brother."
(Available on Look Sharp!)

31:55 - Saturday Looks Good to Me: "You Work All Weekend" (2:59)
Abby: "'When you work all weekend, you can't help but feel the strain.' Ain't it the truth, Fred, ain't it the truth. Ann Arbor's own Saturday Looks Good to Me laments the working grind in 'You Work All Weekend.' Jangly guitars and a hazy beat combine to make the ideal musical accompaniment to Fred Thomas' weary vocal. The lyric perfectly encapsulates the idea of being worn down by your job, and how very much weekend working sucks."
(Available on All Your Summer Songs)

34:54 - Beck: "Debra" (5:43)
But enough whining. It's time to get down to the real nitty gritty of Labor Day: the partying. That's right, if you love your country and our workforce, you should be celebrating Labor Day Weekend the way real Americans do it; with enough sexual and chemical depravity to fuel the Roman Empire itself. Hey, they give you three days for a reason. And if you need some inspiration, says Megan, nobody knows how to party like Midnite Vultures' Beck: "You know what I like to do on my federal holidays? I like to try to get with someone new and one of their family members. I like to put on some falsetto-ing Beck, some brand new lingerie, and go cruising for bored surburban families who might want to try a little something something new. If menage a trois doesn't spell out H-O-L-I-D-A-Y, then what does?"
(Available on Midnite Vultures)

40:38 - Mark Blitzstein & The New Singers: "The Internationale" (2:15)
In all seriousness, though, Labor Day isn't just a time for semi-anonymous threesomes with a pair of sisters. It's also a time to remember the labor struggles which have shaped our history - and, as Aaron Kahn notes, therein lies one of the holiday's inherent flaws: "The pure fact that the United States celebrates its 'labor day' in September speaks volumes about our fair nation. In all other industrialized nations of the world, the workers' movements commemorate their struggle as a remembrance of the protests for an eight-hour workday at Chicago's Haymarket Square in 1886, which eventually led to the violent Haymarket Riots. As a sign of solidarity to the workers who fell at that event, as well as a celebration of winning the shorter day for which those heroes fought, the International Left recognizes the first of May as the world's true day for labor. Only in America, does May Day pass without so much as a puff piece on the evening news.

"Perhaps it's because Haymarket happened here. Maybe we don't acknowledge what we don't want to remember as another example of the bloody construction of our land. Regardless, I submit to you, as a protest against the sweeping of true history under the rug of capitalism, the anthem of workers everywhere in the world: the Internationale. Written originally in French in 1870, and set to music 18 years later, the Internationale has been translated into German, Russian, English, Chinese. Indeed, it has been sung in the native toungue of every land across the globe where the workers are oppressed, where the downtrodden fight for the rights ro be recognized as human beings. It is a symbol of class unification against the oppressors. It is a battle call. Truly, the Internationale does unite the human race.

"Most of all, however, it is a warning to the middle and upper classes of a revolution to come. As Marx concluded his manifesto:

"'The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.

"'WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!'"
(Available on The Internationale in 30+ Languages)

Total Runtime: 42:53

Side B

0:05 - Debbie Deb: "Lookout Weekend" (6:15)
On the other hand, we doubt even Karl Marx would find it in his heart to disagree with the joyful sentiments expressed by Debbie Deb in 'Lookout Weekend.' Tyler Merkel explains: "It's definitely the combination of 'laser ray' sound effects, robot voices, and a flatulent syncopated bassline in Debbie Deb's synthed-out Miami freestyle classic 'Lookout Weekend' that gives me a hard-on for whatever weekend impends. And when put into the context of a three-day weekend, I've often felt this song with such urgency that I can't control myself and must immediately begin my weekend by some means of sporadic dance as soon as the needle hits the dusty vinyl. (And when I speak of needles and vinyl, I'm not talking about patching up one of Debbie Deb's high-rise pants or matching shiny jackets...I'm fairly certain they've all cycled through second-hand shops years ago.)

"The mundane lyrics of 'Lookout Weekend' describe Debbie Deb's weekly rut and anticipation for the weekend break - something all hard-working Americans can empathize with. The dark, gritty beat also provides a stark contrast to the disposable lyrics, creating a sort of edgy electro-induced harmonization that commands the body to dance off the weight of weekday labor. So thanks, Debbie Deb, for making the weekend something to work hard for, and for reminding your listeners that 'weekends were made for fun.'"
(Available on She's Back!)

6:20 - Johnny Cash: "One Piece at a Time" (3:59)
Of course, if you don't have much of a weekend to look forward to, you can always take a page out of Johnny Cash's book and make your weekday labor worthwhile. Zach: "Sure, he wore the black for the poor and beaten down; but what they don't tell you is that Johnny Cash could tell a hell of a joke while he was doing it. Just take 'One Piece at a Time,' a little ditty about a Detroit auto worker who steals parts from the assembly line in order to build himself a custom Caddie - 'one piece at a time,' geddit? The humor is genial and homespun enough to be a Blue Collar Comedy sketch - although something tells me its pro-labor, anti-Big Three undertones would probably give Larry the Cable Guy pause - and better still, the music is a rock-solid throwback to Cash's early rockabilly sides for Sun Records. Listen in particular to the Man in Black's wry 'CB radio' spiel before the fadeout; not just for what might well be the first recorded instance of the word 'psychobilly,' but for the priceless line, 'Negatory on the cost of this mow-chine there, Red Ryder. You might say I want right up to the factory and picked it up, it's cheaper that way...'"
(Available on The Essential Johnny Cash)

10:19 - Ween: "Pumpin' 4 the Man" (1:31)
Jon: "I've never worked at a gas station (and I doubt the dudes in Ween have ever pumped gas themselves), but if I did, this would be my jam. Actually, this song could be suitable for plenty of people who work shitty jobs, and justify it with the immortal words 'I guess I do it well, so what the fuck.'"
(Available on Pure Guava)

11:50 - Fiona Apple: "Waltz (Better Than Fine)" (3:46)
Now, just because Labor Day is a break from the workaday monotony described by artists like Debbie Deb and Ween, doesn't mean that we have to fill our days off with more responsibilities, even benign ones like barbeques or fishing trips. In fact, Laura has a very appealing alternative - just follow in the footsteps of alt-pop's most idiosyncratic chick with a piano, and do nothing at all: "Fiona Apple doesn't believe in the wasting of time. And neither do people who make money. 'Waltz' gives the finger to the competitive usage of time, as so many of us do on Labor Day. A whole day in honor of our work? Hell, yes. And what do we do? Not a thing. Go sit in the grass and hum."
(Available on Extraordinary Machine)

15:36 - The Beatles: "I'm Looking Through You" (2:24)
Or, as Dave Koenig suggests, relax with some of your personal favorite autumn music...or ours: "'I'm Looking Through You' is a rarity for me, in that I have no idea why I like it. The melody is great, the chords are great, and the lyrics are great, but that's not it. There are very few songs that hit me in a way that I simply cannot explain, and 'I'm Looking Through You' is one of them. To my ears, it sounds the way that September feels. So next time you listen to it, try to think as little as possible and just let go. Maybe it'll affect you in the same way."
(Available on Rubber Soul)

18:00 - Merle Haggard: "Workin' Man Blues" (2:36)
Zach: "Listen up, alla you draft-dodgin', pot-smokin', no-'count hippies! You might think you support the workin' man, but once Ol' Hag yessir the Okie from Muskogee hisself gets through singin' his 'Workin' Man Blues,' you'll have another think comin' right quick! Just listen: 'Sometimes I think about leavin', do a little bummin' around / I wanna throw my bills out the window, catch a train to another town / But I go back workin' / Gotta buy my kids another pair of shoes.' Yep, even the mighty Merle is tempted to get away from it all sometimes. But before you start getting any ideas, allow him to set you straight again: 'I ain't never been on welfare, and that's one place I won't be!' Now gitouttahere, boy!"
(Available on Portrait of Merle Haggard/Keep Movin' On)

20:36 - Loverboy: "Working for the Weekend" (3:42)
Aaron: "Get up. Go to work. Push papers. Go home. Sleep. Repeat. It's the same damn thing, five days a week, all damned year long. We middle-class American cubicle slaves suck down cup after cup of piss-coffee while we revel in our drudgery. We suffer under the hand of office work, and for what? So some balding, sexually harassing, third-rate middle manager can climb one more rung of an ever lengthening ladder into the heights of mediocrity? It's a depressing existence.

"But at least there's always the light at the end of the tunnel. As Loverboy sang so many years ago: everybody's working for the weekend. At no other time is this as true than in the glorious hours leading up to the best weekend: Labor Day weekend. That one extra day - that Monday off - means the world to us. It is an extra moment to breathe, to celebrate the end of summer, and to enjoy the love of one another. Soon enough we'll be back in our own private hells, so let's enjoy the time we have.

"Okay, so maybe Loverboy's song isn't actually about any of this. In fact, I'd wager that it's not really about anything. But that's not really the point. While your moronic yokel coworkers are crowding the break room in cheap suits with tremendously fashion-backward lapels that probably would have looked outdated ten years ago, eating the disgusting slop they call 'lunch,' you can ignore all of it. As you take your Lean Cuisine out of the microwave, pop in this mix tape, put on your headphones, and go into another world... a world where the weekend is already here. Labor Day may be over, but Thanksgiving is just around the corner. I promise."
(Available on Get Lucky)

24:12 - Danger Mouse: "Change Clothes" (4:04)
The sobering reality of Labor Day, however, is that not all of us is entitled to the day off whose very presence this mixtape celebrates. This is something our own Megan experienced first-hand, when she worked two summers as a third-shift casual employee at the United States Postal Service. So in case you ever find yourself in a similar situation, and suddenly all federal holidays mean to you is time-and-a-half, here's one way of coping: "While I never stayed at the post office long enough to be sentenced to the Labor Day shift, I spent a full 4th of July night listening to the Grey Album's 'Change Clothes.' Danger Mouse's mix is so full of wide-awake joy that it kept me feeling good, even while the rest of the world was grilling hot dogs, watching fireworks, and taking cheesy photographs. So, for those of you out there who have to work the party holidays, this song is for you. Download it. Put it on your iPod. Enjoy. It's a party for your ears."
(Available on The Grey Album)

28:17 - Miles Davis: "Will O' the Wisp" (3:47)
Dave: "I always mix up Labor Day with Memorial Day. Even as I write this paragraph, I'm not sure which Day recently happened. And honestly, I don't fully get what either of them celebrates. I don't associate this fall holiday with hard work or war veterans or anything like that. To me, it's all about instability. This Day comes around every year at a time when the weather is shifting, school is clunkily settling in, and nobody has quite carved out their yearly routine. Everything feels slightly out of control. I always find myself listening to Sketches of Spain around this time: a slippery album, that exists just out of reach."
(Available on Sketches of Spain)

32:05 - Suicide: "Frankie Teardrop" (10:25)
Zach: "So far, we've focused on the positive aspects of the working life which Labor Day both celebrates and mitigates; about the worst thing we've mentioned is the dulling, mundane existence that comes with a really shitty job. But there's a dark side to the working life, and it's never been more chillingly explored than by Suicide in 'Frankie Teardrop': over a subtle, almost subliminal backing of primitive drum machine, moaning keyboards, and what sounds like the faint noise of either a factory or a city street, Alan Vega relates the story of a 20-year-old factory worker named Frankie who just can't take it anymore. He shoots his family - Vega's inhuman shrieks stand in ingeniously for the gunshots - turns the gun on himself, and ends up 'lying in hell.' Morality play? Not exactly: 'We're all Frankies,' Vega chokes.'We're all lying in hell!' More of a horror film than a song (and a very good horror film at that), 'Frankie Teardrop' is a truly nightmarish look at the terrible, terrible things poverty can drive us to do."
(Available on Suicide)

42:30 - The Highway Q.C.'s: "Working on the Building" (2:22)
But let's look on the bright side: plenty of people go to work every day for too little pay, and not all of them go apeshit and shoot their six-month-old babies in their cribs. Hell, most people do just fine! And for that matter, while it's debatable that we're all really "Frankies" who are "lying in hell," at least legendary gospel group the Highway Q.C.'s have a solution: with the work we do in our day-to-day lives, we're also working our way up to Heaven. Sorta like building a skyscraper. But wait - is this really the message we should be leaving you people with? Megan looks into it: "Here's a question to ponder - when you're working on God's building, do you receive benefits? I mean, Noah totally didn't get benefits when he built the ark. Yeah, yeah, he got to escape the flood and all of that shit, but what about overtime? Who's there to represent Noah's rights? Anyway, I spent an extra five minutes on my ass this year in honor of the Highway Q.C.'s. They may be working on God's building, but the only benefit I heard about was Heaven. Come on God, what about a spot in Heaven andsome good dental converage?" Now that's more like it. Happy Labor Day, everybody...and happy labor!
(Available on Spirit of Gospel)

Total Runtime: 44:52

Tape Runtime (Sides A & B): 87:45

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