When Labor Fought Rock-and-Roll
Facing the world ain’t easy when there isn’t anything going Standing at the corner waiting watching time go by Will I go to work today or shall I bide my time So begins the Kinks’ song, “Get Back in Line,” one of the most hauntingly beautiful paeans to the forced idleness and stress of unemployment ever committed to tape. I’ve turned to this song for solace, a little too often for comfort, but I’ve always been discomfited by the refrain that follows. ‘Cos when I see that union man walking down the street He’s the man who decides if I live or I die, if I starve, or I eat Then he walks up to me and the sun begins to shine Then he walks right past and I know that I’ve got to get back in the line Is this just Ray Davies being a contradictory crank? He has, […]