Ten Favorite Work Songs: Welcome to the Working Week (#3)

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Here it is, Saturday, the seventh day, the Biblically-mandated day of rest...and I'm looking at songs about work! Well, at least songs that have the word "work" in the title (won't catch me doing any work today!). I think the next two are so obvious that Vegas won't even give odds if you want to bet. Here's the first obvious one. #3: Welcome to the Working Week - Elvis Costello I really should try to be more diverse and surprising, shouldn't I? The opening salvo. This is how Elvis Costello unleashed his brilliance on an unsuspecting world mired in disco and "You Light Up My Life" pop. His debut album, My Aim Is True, opened with this song. Better still, it had a cold opening: no musical introduction, just Costello's distinctive voice singing, "Now that you're picture's in the paper, being rhythmically admired, and you can have anyone that you have ever desired. All you gotta tell me now is why? Why? Why? Why?" There's no instrumental interlude, either, it's just Costello going full speed with his marvelous lyrics. And oh, did that album fulfill all the promises that this minute-and-a-half song made as the opening track. This is, unquestionably, one of the best debut albums ever. Welcome to the Working Week Written by Elvis Costello Recorded by Elvis Costello From My Aim Is True, 1977 Sometimes I wonder if we're living in the same land: