Image by The U.S. National Archives via Flickr
“Work is love made visible.” – Kahlil Gibran
Labor Day is fast approaching. Here are a few work songs to help lead the “labor” conversation. A few will appeal most to young children and a few to older adults. Most would work well with a mix of ages (an intergenerational group).
Children/Preschoolers
- Hurry, Hurry Drive the Fire Truck
- The Farmer in the Dell
- Who are the People in Our Neighborhood? (Seasame Street)
Older Adults
- Tea for Two
- School Days
- Don’t Fence Me In
- Nice Work if You Can Get It
Intergenerational
- I’ve Been Workin’ on the Railroad
- Working 9 to 5
- Thank God I’m a Country Boy
- Whistle While You Work
- 16 Tons
- It’s Been a Hard Day’s Night
- Wichita Lineman
- Hard Times Come Again No More
- Allentown
- Piano Man
- Banana Boat Song
Discussion items:
- What job does this song describe? Have you known anyone in that line of work?
- Does the song make you think the person liked their job? Why or why not?
- What kind of job(s) did you have (or would you like to have)?
What songs would you add to the lists? How do you observe Labor Day?
Related articles
- Top Intergenerational Music Blogs (jordanenterpriseinmusic.com)
- Story Songs for Older Adults (jordanenterpriseinmusic.com)
COOL! This is exactly what I need right now! Thank you JoAnn!!!
Glad to be of service, Kat.
You always give such great ideas!! I recently started doing more intergenerational work at the hospital and stuff like this is so helpful!
I love using the “Erie Canal” as a work song – there’s a lot of ways to build some musical parts and it’s got that great minor to major switch that is always interesting!
“Erie Canal” is a great song to add to the list. Good luck with the intergenerational group. Let me know how it’s going?