Monday, July 05, 2010

Hard Hat And A Hammer

The mini van came back from nine days in the repair shop last week and in addition to adding a new door, somebody switched one of the radio presets to the country station.
Instead of instantly changing it back I gave it a listen on the way to the supermarket this morning. The top forty countdown was on and they were up to the latest by Alan Jackson, one of the few country singers whose name I recognize because he was a favorite of my Auntie Edna. So I kept listening.
The song was "Hard Hat And A Hammer" and it featured the refrain, "God bless the working man."
Now we could argue that Mr. Jackson is referring to every man who draws a pay check and even some who don't but the lyrics (there's nothing wrong with a hard hat and a hammer) tell us otherwise.
Where's the song that celebrates the white-collar worker? With lyrics like "there's nothing wrong with a degree in marine biology." Or, "God bless the research assistant." There is "Here Comes Science" by They Might Be Giants but that's been relegated to kids music.
Kids who will hopefully grow up to be all that they can be, but in the event that they end up wielding a hammer at least they'll have plenty of country tunes to croon to while they are up on the roof.

song: Hard Hat And A Hammer • artist: Alan Jackson

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