Saturday, August 20, 2011

Get Back In Line (Ray Davies Lyric and Kinks Link)













Facing the world ain't easy when there isn't anything going,
Standing at the corner waiting, watching time go by,
Will I go to work today or shall I bide my time?
'Cos when I see that union man walking down the street --
He's the man who decides if I live or I die, if I starve, or I eat.
Then he walks up to me and the sun begins to shine,
Then he walks right past and I know that I've got to get Back in the line.
Now I think of what my mama told me;
She always said that it would never ever work out.
But all I want to do is make some money
And bring you home some wine.
But I don't ever want you to see me
Standing in that line.
'Cos that union man's got such a hold over me --
He's the man who decides if I live or I die, if I starve, or I eat.
Then he walks up to me and the sun begins to shine;
Then he walks right past and I know that I've got to get Back in the line.
Get back, get back, get back, get back, get right
Back in the line.









        When I first heard this song in 1970, roughly 40 years after the start of the Great Depression, I really had no idea what Ray Davies meant by the lyric “when there isn’t anything going.”  

         Now, roughly 40 years later, I do.






Photos:  Thousands of people wait in lines at For The People Jobs Fair at Atlanta Technical College, Atlanta, Georgia, August 18, 2011.

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