Lyrics
My job makes me crazy, I'm always behind
Even though I am not one to shirk
And some fuzzy folksinger repeats in my mind
That my life should be more than my work
Well, I like the work that I do
I don't mind earning my pay
But there's so much to do when the work day is through
Bring back the eight-hour day
Say you work at a white-collar job
You get paid at a fixed monthly rate
But you come in for meetings a half-hour early
You're working a full hour late
Then you sit for an hour in traffic
With the rest of the overtime drones
There's a latchkey kid you must chase off to bed
'Fore you eat a cold supper alone
Oh, bring back the eight-hour day
When did we give it away?
There's so much to do when the work day is through
Bring back the eight-hour day
When I was a kid, mom stayed home
And we lived on dad's blue-collar pay
Our standard of living was decent and sweet
Just as good as what I've got today
Now my wife has a good-paying job
And me, well, I'm doing okay
But we're putting out 99 hours a week
Tell me who the hell's getting my pay? Hey
Bring back the eight-hour day
When did we give it away?
There's so much to do when the work day is through
Bring back the eight-hour day
They got cellular phones for your car
They got notebook PC's for your lap
If you crawl off to sleep, you stay close to your beeper
Now, why do we stand for this crap?
They tell you, "You've got to compete"
No! We're tired from footing the bill
Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest
And eight hours for what we will
A hundred and ten years ago
In Chicago in Haymarket Square
They gathered from shipyards, from mine and from mill
Just to march in the sun and the air
They'd been slaving from dawn until dusk
But not on the first of May
'Cause you can't smell the flowers when you're working 12 hours
So they struck for an eight-hour day, hey
Bring back that eight-hour day
Bring back the five-day week
When did we give it away?
How did it become an antique?
I like the work that I do
I don't mind earning my pay
But there's so much to do when the work day is through
Bring back the eight-hour day
Writer(s): Charlie King
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com