Every Friday afternoon at 5pm, classic rock stations throughout the country play “Bang the Drum All Day” as callers declare their excitement for the weekend. It's sort of a depressing thought – as though every Sunday night, these same callers are crying themselves to sleep at the thought of having to work for a whole week once again.

So why is that? Do we hate work itself, or do we hate the specific jobs we hold to earn money? We live in a culture where people are often defined by their job titles, which might explain matters somewhat. As an example, it's surely frustrating for someone working as an administrative assistant to be thought of only in that capacity rather than as someone with outside interests that don't necessarily contribute to personal wealth (administrative assistant by day, skilled salsa dancer by night). However, the more problematic issue is arguably that people are tasked with working full-time only to keep following the rules laid down by society: buy a nice house, a new car, a plasma screen TV, a gold watch, and so on. It's this problem that many musicians have frequently taken on throughout the years.

Some musicians have somewhat straightforward, unambiguous views about this problem. Kevin Devine's song “Noose Dressed Like a Necklace” is chiefly concerned with the people who feel they might be dying each week they go to work, singing, “I see everybody working for that same eternal weekend, droning on and on and on and never doing what we wanted.” No matter your viewpoint, it's unequivocally a shame when one needs to put work and financial stability ahead of life passions. Unfortunately, a life of pursuing money only to afford a place to rest your head and food to subsist on, without having much left over for more enjoyable pursuits, is a way of life for many: it's difficult to stay afloat on modest hourly wages, which are what most drone-creating jobs offer employees who work them day in and day out.

But then again, the meaning of some songs can change with perspective. Take “Stand There Until You're Sober” by Bomb the Music Industry!, which at first listen may come off as another “my friends sold out to the man” anti-work anthem. BTMI! leader Jeff Rosenstock shouts his thoughts and accusations, at one point declaring, “You fuckers used to be just like me!” For the longest time, the song prompted me to think, “Yeah, I'm not going to be like those fuckers! I'm going to stay up all night and sleep until noon forever!” However, that feeling isn't applicable for all, and people shouldn't feel bad after hearing the song just because they “rise at 8” and “go to sleep before midnight.” Not everyone likes staying out late to drink every night, just as not everybody likes sleeping through the most important meal of the day. With a slightly clearer head and different perspective, it's obvious that the song isn't really about how much working sucks, but about the frustration involved with struggling along in life trying to find a purpose. It's a problem most, if not all, people have at some point, though it takes courage to address it head-on.

One of the most unapologetic anti-work songs I know of is “The Monkey Versus the Robot” by Piebald. Like Kevin Devine in “Noose Dressed Like a Necklace,” Piebald is happy to let you know in no uncertain terms how much of a bummer American society is, since it's a society where young people are always either in school or in the workforce, only to stop working once they're too old to do anything but play golf. On the flip side, Piebald ends the song by declaring, “We have the best job ever! We really got lucky! We're nobody's robots! We're nobody's monkeys!” They are most likely referring to their jobs as members of a rock band. Statements like this are somewhat ambiguous: Should we all aspire to be in rock bands, or should we just aspire to finding our own best job ever? There certainly isn't enough room for millions of rock stars in this country (well, there probably is, but you know), so hopefully it's the latter sentiment that we should take to heart. The way to solve this problem is to just find a job that you feel privileged in having. We're not all going to be rock stars: some of us are going to be chefs, accountants, academics, or anything in between. This answer might seem dreadfully obvious to some, but in a country where people are still un-ironically singing along to their local classic rock radio stations at 5pm every Friday, the message should still be spread. Perhaps instead of working for the weekend, they should think of ways to enjoy the week. Whether the enjoyment takes place during or outside of 9am-5pm is up to them.