Lyrics for Weekend Warriors

Poor Monday.  There are many songs and lyrics about it.  But none are very flattering.  Tuesday has gotten some minor recognition in songs and lyrics.  And Wednesday and Thursday are virtually forgotten.  But Friday and the weekend?  They're the darlings of songs and lyrics.  Judging from the number of songs about weekends, even famous musicians and bands look forward to them -- or they remember their pre-fame days when the weekend was the finish line of their obstacle course through the week, and pay tribute to them in their lyrics.

"Just Got Paid (Friday Night)" by country singer Johnny Kemp is an upbeat song with lyrics celebrating what the opening night of the weekend is all about: hitting the town, shedding the office persona, and cutting loose.  Some of those good-time lyrics are, "Just got paid, Friday night/Party huntin', feelin' right/Body shakin' all around/Nobody thinks when I'm gettin' down."

Rock band Loverboy loves weekends -- they wrote not only one, but two songs with lyrics about those three magical days.  First up is "Friday Night," featuring the lyrics, "Friday night, Friday night/I just got paid, no sleep 'til Monday/Friday night, Friday night/Who cares, it's only money."  They also wrote the ultimate anthem with lyrics about why people bother to toil away during the week:  "Working for the Weekend."  It hit #2 on the charts with its churning, power-pop music and universal lyrics, "Everybody's working for the weekend/Everybody wants a little romance/Everybody's goin' off the deep end/Everybody needs a second chance."

Remember the Bay City Rollers?  The Scottish boy-band scored the first #1 smash hit of the US Bicentennial year in 1976 with "Saturday Night," and its rousing, chanted lyrics, "S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y....NIGHT!"  Delivered with the enthusiasm of a cheerleading squad, those simple, two-word lyrics perfectly captured the anticipation of the weekend, and the excitement of its arrival.

For Elton John's lyrics writer, Bernie Taupin, Saturday night was about letting off steam in a different way -- by guzzling some liquid courage, and putting up your dukes.  He wrote the lyrics to "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)," about his teen years in British bars, where brawls were nothing unusual:  "Don't give us none of your aggravation/We had it with your discipline/Saturday night's alright for fighting/Get a little action in."

Sunday has its share of admirers, too.  Queen paid tribute to it with the bubbly, campy lyrics and music of "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon."  The tune bounces along like part of an operetta, and includes the lyrics, "I go out to work on Monday morning/Tuesday I go off to honeymoon/I'll be back again before it's time for sunnydown/I'll be lazing on a Sunday afternoon."  The lyrics, which sound as though they're being played on an old-fashioned gramophone, were fed from the studio where Freddie Mercury was singing through a tin bucket in another studio.

One of the Bangles' most famous songs is titled, "Manic Monday," but the lyrics are really all about how much they enjoy Sundays: "Its just another manic Monday/I wish it was Sunday/'Cause that's my fun day/My I-don't-have-to-run day."  Prince, who apparently is a big fan of Sundays, actually wrote the music and lyrics -- and the song became the Bangles' first hit.

Sorry, Monday.  When it comes to lyrics, there aren't many nice ones about you.  But, hey -- it's better to be infamous than to be ignored, right?