The life of the freelance copywriter is full of false leads, missed opportunities, daily humiliation, abrupt endings and occassionally, strokes of great fortune. So after a year of freelancing, I am fabulously exictied to have found a full time job, which I started last week.
Since I found a job, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Talking Heads song "Found A Job.""Found a Job" was one of the highlights of the T-Heads' second album, 1978's More Songs about Buildings and Food. But it actually has nothing to do with job hunting (or buildings or food) and everything to do with David Byrne's Orwellian vision of a world dominated by YouTube and reality TV.
"Found A Job" tells the story of a bored couple who frustrated with the lame programming on network TV, decide to make their own shows and broadcast them themselves.
Damn that television ... what a bad picture!"
"Don't get upset, it's not a major disaster."
"There's nothing on tonight," he said, "I don't know what's the matter!"
"Nothing's ever on", she said, "so ... I don't know why you bother."
We've heard this little scene, we've heard it many times.
People fighting over little things, and wasting precious time.
They might be better off ... I think ... the way it seems to me.
Making up their own shows, which might be better than T.V.
The couple throw themselves into their project, get their family and friends involved, score some kickass ratings and in the process save their marriage.
Judy's in the bedroom, inventing situations.
Bob is on the street today, scouting up locations.
They've enlisted all their family.
They've enlisted all their friends.
It helped saved their relationship,
And made it work again ...
Their show gets real high ratings, they think they have a hit.
There might even be a spinoff, but they're not sure 'bout that.
Just look at Bob and Judy; they're happy as can be,
Inventing situations, putting them on T.V.
Just as importantly, "Found a Job" features some really great scratch funk guitar in the spirit of James Brown and the Famous Flames. Mr. Byrne and Jerry Harrison are perhaps the most underrated guitar combo in rock. "Found a Job" was one of the key tracks of my favorite part of Stop Making Sense - the part where the stage is being set up while they play. Appropriately enough, the clip is on YouTube.
2 comments:
Hear, hear! What I loved about this song was that it quite accurately described what today is called reality TV a good ten years before it came into existence with shows like "COPS" and "Nummer 28".
I don't think the song is literally about producing a tv show, per se; rather, it's about Bob and Judy's leaving behind the mundane, thinking creatively for themselves, and enriching their lives.
I also think it's about their having sex and producing a family of their own.
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