Labour & Pop Culture: Friday Night

This week’s installment of Labour & Pop Culture heads back to the classic rock vault to find “Friday Night” by Loverboy. I couldn’t find a video to share, although the link above will take you to an audio recording of the song.

This song valorizes the weekend as a relief from the drudgery of work. Here, as Mike Reno tells it, he’s worked very hard for a jerk in order to afford to ride a motor cycle that allows him to escape the horror of his job:

I've been bidin' my time, listen to the Boss man scream
Workin' forty hours, payin' for this dream machine

What’s interesting is that that even classic rock bar bands intuitively understand Marx’s theory of alienation. Here, I’m going to crib from Wikipedia:

The theoretic basis of alienation, within the capitalist mode of production, is that the worker invariably loses the ability to determine life and destiny, when deprived of the right to think (conceive) of themselves as the director of their own actions; to determine the character of said actions; to define relationships with other people; and to own those items of value from goods and services, produced by their own labour.

So basically, forced to work in a job designed to steal the maximum surplus value from his work, Reno becomes alienated from work and working and seeks periodic escape on a “high-heeled Venus, doing twice the speed of light.” And who said classic rock can’t teach us anything…


Burning up the miles, there's a full moon out tonight
I've got a high-heel Venus, doing twice the speed of light
Crank it up through the gears--see what she can do
Women and cars--everything they say is true

Stand in line--No! No!
Wasting time--No
Friday night, Friday night
I just got paid--no sleep 'til Monday
Friday night, Friday night
Who cares, it's only money

I've been bidin' my time, listen to the Boss man scream
Workin' forty hours, payin' for this dream machine
'Cause I'm living proof--every mad-dog has his day
I'm going to find me a woman--head out on the Old Highway

Stand in line--No! No!
Wasting time--No
Friday night, Friday night
I just got paid--no sleep 'til Monday
Friday night, Friday night
Who cares, it's only money

I've been bidin' my time, listen to the Boss man scream
Workin' forty hours, payin' for this dream machine
'Cause I'm living proof--every mad-dog has his day
I'm going to find me a woman--head out on the Old Highway

Friday night, Friday night
Friday night, Friday night
It's only money
Friday night, Friday night
I just got paid, no sleep 'til Monday
Friday night, Friday night
Who cares it's only money

Friday night, Friday night
Friday night, Friday night
It's only money
Friday night, Friday night
I just got paid, no sleep 'til Monday
Friday night, Friday night
Who cares it's only money

Friday night, Friday night

-- Bob Barnetson