Working for the Weekend

The Mark:
*NOTE - If you want to hear *any* of the videos below that aren't "Working for the Weekend," you're going to have to scroll down a few paragrpahs, find the video and pause it.  Or just sit back and let the good times roll - you're call.  :D

Earlier today, I asked for help with picking today's themed based off the idea of 'construction'. Here's why:

That's how things were at home until about 11:00 a.m. or so today. Prior to this bit of drilling*, it was a jack-hammering for a solid 20-30 minutes.

So, due to my inability to focus with all the noise, I decided to utilize this distraction for today's post and crowd-source based on the theme 'construction' After receiving a number of construction-related suggestions in a variety of styles, I ended up holding an impromptu 'drawing out of a hat' to determine which song to utilize for today's post. Our winner...

Oh yes, this is happening.

My Connection:

This song rocks. Hard enough, in fact, that I felt compelled to learn how to make it auto-play vs. waiting for you to click on it. My apologies if your speakers were at full volume... or not on at all, because you're missing out.

With a fast tempo and what I lovingly refer to as 'giddy up' rhythms, I've always enjoyed playing this song as part of various cover bands over the years. And while yes, one's mind is pretty much instantly drawn to the classic Farley/Swayze sketch on SNL, I feel like there's a whole lot more depth to this song than the lyrics might have you believe.


Style Notes/Structure:

Lyrics

Lyrically, the song isn't too complex... and that's okay. Great, in fact! If the lyrics were too complex, it might distract from the drive of the backing rhythms.

When I listen to this song, I really appreciate how the melody of the singing matches so well with the driving, repetitive nature of the guitar rhythm.

For instance, take the first verse:
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Everyone's watching, to see what you will do (pretty straight tone, doesn't go too high or low range)

Everyone's looking at you (Starts high, same note, ends down low) oh (bonus)

Everyone's wondering, will you come out tonight?? (pretty straight tone, doesn't go too high or low range, SAME MELODY AS LINE 1)

Everyone's trying to get it right, get it right (Starts high, same note, ends down low, SAME AS LINE 2)
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Then, the chorus blasts in with the song title! No avant-garde, "Standing Outside a Broken Telephone Booth with Money in my Hand"-ing here. We are working for the weekend, have no doubt.

"Doo Doo, DooDoo Doo" isn't a very memorable song title, I suppose?

Music

The bread and butter of "Working for the Weekend." I could go into the composition piece of how they chose what chords to use and in what order, buuuuut I've been talking about the driving sound of this song so I really feel like that's what needs to be emphasized here.

POWER CHORDS

I've been aching for an opportunity to talk about power chords. When teaching guitar, I lovingly refer to power chords as the 'cheat code' of the guitar. Rather than your standard major and minor chords which require you to learn a variety of shapes that need to be applied at various points on the neck of the guitar, the power chord shape stays the same wherever you put it.**

Power chords also *sound* lower/rougher, so they tend to rock a little more than your standard open chords.See the video below for an example of said 'rocking sound'.

Rhythm

Putting the awesomeness of the rhythm into written words is hard to do. Hence... this video as well.

My Take:

*INSERT RECORD SCRATCH*

But wait: "Working for the Weekend" isn't a love song! How can I justify using this as part of a blog dedicated to writing love songs based on love songs?

Well... I'd say it's obvious that Loverboy loves the weekend. I love my wife. We're cruising on down the road to a wedding this weekend (hi Rachael and Travis!). I did my best to take these ideas, jam them together into one cohesive whole, annnnnd....

ONE ROUGH TAKE. This song is *hard* to play since it's so fast, and my Bowie shirt apparently doesn't breathe at all. If I were recording these for an album/trying to make a profit, I'd be doing multiple takes and all that... but this whole blog is just a fun excuse to talk about basic music theory and the lovely wife. :-)

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*Get it?? Bit?? Drill?

**Kind of. Once you get up to playing the first finger/root note on the 4th string or higher, things get a bit wonky.

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Bonus Fun Fact - While writing this post, I had the auto-play of Working for the Weekend start up on its own no less than 7 times. Karmic justice, I suppose. ~