This week’s Pick Six is a pretty basic one: “Songs With ‘Monday’ in Their Title.”
“Monday, Monday” – The Mamas and the Papas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h81Ojd3d2rY#
“Monday, Monday” is a song about the often capricious nature of love. The whole story is told in the first verse, which for the sake of brevity I’ll cite here: “Monday Monday, so good to me/Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be/Oh Monday morning, Monday morning couldn’t guarantee/That Monday evening you would still be here with me.”
“Manic Monday” – The Bangles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAZgLcK5LzI
The theme of “Manic Monday” can be summarized in one phrase, so I’ll leave it at this: it’s tough to get to work on time after late-night sex on Sunday.
“Blue Monday” – Fats Domino
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3041kBbxGM
“Blue Monday” falls into the class of songs dealing with the hardships of a long workweek followed by the release of a weekend of partying. Not much else to say here, except that Fats Domino is one of the biggest inflences in early rock history and deserves an occasional listen.
“I Don’t Like Mondays” – Boomtown Rats
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2I84-A9duY
This song is based on the sadly true story of a deranged teenager who opened fire on a group of elementary school students in Cleveland. Eight children were wounded, and the school’s principal and custodian were killed while heroically moving kids out of the line of fire. When asked by a reporter why she would ever commit such a horrific act of senseless violence, the shooter simply said, “I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day.” After hearing the news of the shooting, Bob Geldof penned “I Don’t Like Mondays,” which captures the feeling of helplessness that permeates tragedies like the one in Cleveland over 30 years ago.
“Monday” – The Living End
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXqlouMAS2I
It’s hard to believe, but there is another “Monday” song about a school shooting. In this case, The Living End wrote a song about a psycho social worker in Dublane who killed 16 students and a teacher. This song is also thematically similar to “I Don’t Like Mondays” in that it conveys a sense of dread centered around the fact that it only takes one nut-job to destroy many lives.
“Come Monday” – Jimmy Buffet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhiTsLr29XA
This is a rare “Monday” song in that its lyrics are generally positive. It is basically a love song, with Buffet professing his excitement to reunite with his significant other “come Monday.”