In the next few months, a lot of the readers of this site are going to be receiving exam results that signal a goodbye wave to a certain academic institution and a big “HI-YA” to the FUTURE. If you’ve just finished University, that future is most likely to involve entering the world of work, or worse still, battling as hard as you can to be given the opportunity to be allowed to go to work. Remember that Dire Straits song that went “you’ve got a right to go to work but there’s no work here to be found”? De-press-ing.
While the future might look awful depressing from where you’re standing right now, it might be worth noting that from hard times emerges the best art. As Grayson Perry wrote in the Guardian the other day: “We’ve got a Conservative government to fight against, and we’ve got no money [...] Aesthetically and conceptually, this is a really healthy moment for art.” And in no sphere of the arts is this more true than in music - just look at the incredible wealth of post-punk that sprung up in the early 80s as a reaction to the Thatcher government.
In the spirit of finishing exams, moving on and growing up in an unstable and uncertain political period, here’s a soundtrack to your future that takes the rough with the smooth, romantic dreams and the general malaise of capitalist labour all as one. And if you get too down about it all, there’s always this or, alternatively, this…
DOWNLOAD - SOUNDTRACK YOUR FUTURE (RIGHT CLICK, SAVE AS)
Elvis Costello and the Attractions - “Welcome To The Working Week”
You want to know the worst thing about working? Once you start, you have to do it forever. You’ve got to work straight through all the years where you’re young and fresh enough to do anything fun, only allowed to stop at the exact the point where you’re too old to hold a piss inside you before reaching a toilet. By that point it’s too late to reclaim any glory. Your face is gone, your body is shot and each year you get poorer than the last. So find your place in the chain and get used to it.
Elvis Costello and the Attractions - “Welcome To The Working Week”
Sample lyric - “Oh I know it don’t thrill you, I hope it don’t kill you”
Jim Steinman - “Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through”
Now you’re older and grown up with no more logical next steps in education ahead of you, a lot of really boring people are going to consistently remind you of all the harsh realities you need to face: be adult, get a career, buy a house, start putting money into a pension plan. Being in a successful band that tours the world is not part of being an adult - just look at every single rockstar ever; all big kids. These same boring people are going to insist that you put your dreams of stardom to bed and join the ratrace. And for the most part, they’re probably right in offering such pragmatic advice. But fuck pragmatism. Don’t. Stop. Believing.
Jim Steinman - “Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through”
Sample lyric - “And the angels had guitars even before they had wings, if you hang on to a chorus you get through the night“
Ears - “Happy Days”
Even if you liked school, one of the most annoying things adults could say to you back then was that school days are the best days of your life. It’s frustrating because it implies that before you’re even old enough to vote, your life is on a downward spiral, your best years already behind you, your recent past full of moments you were too careless and naive to fully appreciate. But then the next thing you know, you’re that adult, you’re looking back, getting more nostalgic that the BBC just before a World Cup, lamenting the passing of good times, wishing to be young again. And you’re only 23. Maybe mum and dad were right…
Sample lyric - “I never knew about hating, at first it seemed weird”
New Order - “Dreams Never End”
New Order have a pretty positive attitude. They weren’t going to let a little old thing like their lead singer doing his head get in the way of being a hugely successful and amazing band. They were determined to shovel barrels of pills down their throats, sport Reebok Classics on Balaeric beaches and own their own nightclub as it was the most logical thing in the world. New Order know the power of self worth and sticking to your guns in order to realise a dream. You could learn a lot from that.
New Order - “Dreams Never End”
Sample lyric - “Hello, farewell to your soul”
Leonard Cohen - “The Future”
Remember at school when the teachers insisted that if you worked hard and kept out of trouble that you’d be rewarded with infinite riches and a golden ticket to the easy life? Yeah, well, they lied. Once you leave the prison of school you’ve got to spend more time and effort than you thought possible attempting to break into the prison of work. Leonard Cohen has seen the future and guess what? It’s not as good as it used to be.
Sample lyric - “Give me crack and anal sex”
Blur - “Bank Holiday”
Bank Holidays mean nothing when you’re a student because every day is basically a day off. But as soon as you enter the world of work, they are like shining beacons of celestial bliss in which you can drink yourself to death for three days solid and forget for a brief moment that work makes you believe gunning down everyone at work before inevitably turning the gun on yourself is an extremely alluring option.
Sample lyric - “Bank holiday comes with a six pack of beer… then it’s back to work A.G.A.I.N”
Lou Reed - “Don’t Talk To Me About Work”
I know what Lou’s saying here. He’s saying: “Stop updating your Facebook status every day to complain about work. Stop tweeting about how tired you are. We all hate that shit. We’ve all got to live with those feelings forever so stop reminding us.”
Lou Reed - “Don’t Talk To Me About Work”
Sample lyric - “How many dollars, how many sales, how many liars, how many tales, how many insults must you take in this one life?”
Elvis - “Stranger In My Own Home Town”
Returning to your home town after finishing Uni can be a drain, especially if that home town is Coventry or Grays and you went to UCL or Edinburgh. And all those kids that didn’t move away for three years have been busy earning money, growing up and being boring. They’re not really like you anymore, you don’t really want to be like them. But since you can’t find a job anywhere else and don’t have enough money to go travelling, it’s back to the parent’s manor and temping in HSBC for you. So, that’s what a media degree is for…
Elvis - “Stranger In My Own Home Town”
Sample lyric - “I came home with good intentions, about 5 or 6 years ago”
Love Is All - “A More Uncertain Future”
Worries around work aside, one of the other problems with growing up and is that you leave behind loads of people you thought you loved and liked. Or worse still, they ditch you. “I’ll love you forever” quickly becomes “stop killing my buzz”. Everyone’s got some moving on to do. You can’t take baggage with you. As consolation for those that do get ditched by the former love of their life, it’s worth remembering the golden rule - “fit at school, ugly in real life”. Don’t believe me? Just check Facebook. Look how fat everyone got. You though, you’re great.
Love Is All - “A More Uncertain Future”
Sample lyric - ” I need some more new tricks, get bored so very quick, must be better somewhere, must be something out there”
Daniel Johnston & Jad Fair - “First Day At Work”
I hate all the anxieties that surround starting a new job - will you be good at it? What will the people be like? Will they like you? What do you wear? The worst thing is that now there’s no such thing as a job for life. You have to experience those horrible feelings all the time. And if you temp (which you will and God, you’ll hate it), then that’s once every three weeks.
Daniel Johnston & Jad Fair - “First Day At Work”
Sample lyric - “and you feel so nervous, you feel just like a jerk”