Labour & Pop Culture: Get Back In Line (Again)

This week’s installment of Labour & Pop Culture is “Get Back in Line” by Motorhead. I ran across this song while looking for a video of the Kink’s song by the same name.

This song is explicitly about class conflict in modern society. Lenny opens by singing about how workers “fight for every crust” and “all things come to he who waits” but “the waiting never ends”.

The video contrasts the life of the rich and powerful (with champagne, coke, opulent surroundings, and extravagant food) with the gritty experience of the band (and, presumably, their fans).

The band’s entry into this world (and subsequent drubbing of the wealthy) metaphorically speaks to how habits, beliefs and laws are the only thing that allows the existing power structure to persist.

We are the sacrifice and we don't like advice
We always pay the price, pearls before swine
Now we are only slaves, already in our graves
And if you think that Jesus saves, get back in line

How long such an arrangement will persist in a world of decreasing opportunity fr the working class is an interesting question.



We live on borrowed time, hope turned to dust
Nothing is forgiven, we fight for every crust
The way we are is not the way we used to be my friend
All things come to he who waits, the waiting never ends

We are the chosen few, we are the frozen crew
We don't know what to do, just wasting time
We don't know when to quit, we don't have room to spit
But we'll get over it, get back in line

Stuck here ten thousand years, don't know how to act
Everything forgotten, specially the facts
The way we live is running scared, I don't like it much
All things come to he who waits but these days most things suck

We are the chosen ones, we don't know right from wrong
We don't know what's going on, don't know enough to care
We are the dogs of war, don't even know what for
But we obey the law, get back in line

We are trapped in luxury, starving on parole
No one told us who to love, we have sold our souls
Why do we vote for faceless dogs? We always take the bait
All things come to he who waits but all things come too late

We are the sacrifice and we don't like advice
We always pay the price, pearls before swine
Now we are only slaves, already in our graves
And if you think that Jesus saves, get back in line

If you think that Jesus saves, get back in line

--Bob Barnetson