Working Man quotes…
Working Man Quotes: “Men in denim built our country…”
“… Men in suits have destroyed it.” Maybe not my fave of these Working Man Quotes (or maybe it is), but there’s a hard truth to it.
GRAB A COLD ONE & PUT YOUR FEET UP THIS LABOR DAY, MES AMIS! HERE’S MY FAVE WORKING WOMAN & WORKING MAN QUOTES:
“It’s a big job just gettin’ by with nine kids and a wife
But I’ve been a workin’ man, dang near all my life
But I’ll keep workin’ long as my two hands are fit to use
I’ll drink my beer in a tavern
Sing a little bit of these working man blues.”
– Merle Haggard
“They’re the rough and dirty, strong and sturdy hands of a workin’ man.” – Zane Williams
“We worked to build this country, Mister,
While you enjoyed a life of ease.
You’ve stolen all that we built, Mister,
Now our children starve and freeze.”
– Woody Guthrie
“Every morning I get up before that rooster crows
Heading straight to somewhere I don’t even want to go
Eggs and bacon in my belly and a Folger’s coffee buzz
Good ol’ radar detector it protects me from the fuzz.
Working hard all week puts the beer on the table
Oh, oh, I’m a simple man, yes I am
All I need is a few good friends and a good job,
And a good dog, maybe a woman that understands.
– Josh Thompson
Men of the Deeps: Choir of The Cape Breton Coal Miners — The Real Thing.
“It’s a working man I am
And I’ve been down under ground
And I swear to God if I ever see the sun
Or for any length of time
I can hold it in my mind
I never again will go down under ground.” – Song by Rita MacNeil, God Bless Her, often sung with Men of the Deeps.
“Hey I’m not complaining ’cause I really need the work
Hitting up my buddy’s got me feeling like a jerk
Hundred dollar car note, two hundred rent.
I get a check on Friday, but it’s all ready spent.
Workin’ for a livin’ — workin'” – Garth Brooks
“Well that foreman, he’s a regular dog
The line boss, he’s a fool
Got a brand new flattop haircut
Lord, he thinks he’s cool.
One of these days I’m gonna’ blow my top
And that sucker, he’s gonna’ pay
Lord, I can’t wait to see their faces
When I get the nerve to say…”
– David Allan Coe
“It’s a rich man’s game
No matter what they call it
And you spend your life
Putting money in his wallet
9 to 5
Oh, what a way to make a livin’
Barely gettin’ by
It’s all takin’ and no givin'” – Dolly Parton
A real fave of these Working Man Quotes — Or Working Woman Quotes — Gotta Love Dolly!
“I thank You, Lord, that I am placed so well,
That You have made my freedom so complete;
That I’m no slave of whistle, clock or bell,
Nor weak-eyed prisoner of wall and street.
Just let me live my life as I’ve begun
And give me work that’s open to the sky;
Make me a pardner of the wind and sun,
And I won’t ask a life that’s soft or high.”
– Charles “Badger” Clark
“His saddle horse did stumble
And on him he did fall
He’ll not see his mother
When the work’s all done this fall.
Poor Charlie died at daybreak
He died from the fall
He’ll not see his mother
When the work’s all done this fall.”
– D. J. O’Malley
“Remington showed us how he looked on canvas
And Louis L’Amour has told us his tale
Me and Johnny and Waylon and Kris sing about him
And wish to God, we could have ridden his trail.
This is the last cowboy song
The end of a hundred year Waltz
The voices sound sad as they’re singin’ along
Another piece of America’s lost.”
– Ed Bruce
“I dedicate this song to the workin’ man. For every man that puts in eight or ten hard hours a day of work and toil and sweat. Always got somebody lookin’ down his neck…” – Johnny Cash
“So get your glass up for the working woman,
When you gotta get it done call the working woman.” – Ruthie Foster
“Roll out of the sack every mornin’, head on down to the mill
Give ’em all I got for eight, ’cause that’s the deal
If you’ll check out my paycheck
Well, you’ll see that there ain’t that much on it
But every single penny I’m paid, I got it honest.”
– Aaron Tippin
“We are the navvies who work upon the railway
Swingin’ our hammers in the bright blazin’ sun
Layin’ down track and buildin’ the bridges
Bendin’ our backs ’til the railroad is done.
Layin’ ’em in and tyin’ ’em downAway to the bunkhouse and into the townA dollar a day and a place for my headA drink to the livin’, a toast to the dead.”
– Gordon Lightfoot
Wouldn’t be a real collection of working man quotes without Stompin’ Tom. Our iconic Canadian hero! Who else would have written “The Good Old Hockey Game”? And this one…
“Now there is one thing you can always bet
If I never smoke another cigarette
I might get taken in a lot of deals
But I won’t go workin’ the tobacco fields of
Tillsonburg. Tillsonburg…
My back still aches when I hear that word.”
– Stompin’ Tom Connors
“Oh they’re billing me for killing me —
Lord have mercy on the working man.” – Travis Tritt
“I’m a hard workin’ man
I wear a steel hard hat
I can ride, rope, hammer and paint
Do things with my hands that most men can’t
I can’t get ahead no matter how hard I try
I’m gettin’ really good at barely gettin’ by.
Got everything I own
By the sweat of my brow
From my four-wheel drive to my cowboy boots
I owe it all to my blue collar roots
I feel like I’m workin’ overtime on a runaway train
I’ve got to bust loose from this ball and chain.”
– Ronnie Dunn
“They call me the workin’ man
I guess that’s what I am.
‘Cause I get home at five o’clock
And I take myself out an ice cold beer
Always seem to be wonderin’
Why there’s nothin’ goin’ down here.”
– Alex Lifeson & Geddy Lee (RUSH)
“The ‘Consumer’ is what they call us,
We’re always deep in debt.
From buyin’ drawers in discount stores
To fixin’ the TV set.
We go to the bank for the money,
And sign for another loan,
And pray the Lord doesn’t see us stop
In the tavern half-way home.”
– Stompin’ Tom Connors
“I’ve been selling my soul
Working all day
Overtime hours
For bullshit pay.”
– Oliver Anthony
“And there — in those earliest years — despite my precocious pursuit of pea pickin’ piracy — I learned that if I worked hard and lived honest and loved the soil that gave me life and valued the freedom won for me with blood — I’d have a life lived large…” – Brian Alan Burhoe
“Live Free, Mon Ami!” – Brian Alan Burhoe
WORKING MAN QUOTES: HAPPY LABOUR DAY, MY FRIENDS! WE’VE EARNED IT, EH?
About these working man quotes…
The oldest, original, complete version of the quote that tops this page is this: “Men in denim built our country, men in uniform defended it and men in suits are destroying it.” (For some reason, our Men in Uniform have now been forgotten). If you know who originally said this quote, please reach me via our Contact page. I’d love to know the author — and credit him or her. And You.
The blue collar worker quotes above are old personal faves (and one new one).
In checking out more Working Man and Woman quotes I couldn’t find a single one by a Rich Man. If I’d found one, I would have quoted it. Do you know one? I’ve come across quite a few from Politicians, most saying the same thing: “A hardworking man is a happy man.” And I even found one from an Honest Lawyer: “I am a friend of the working man, and I would rather be his friend than be one.”
Working Man Quotes: I said up above that the “Men in Denim” is maybe my fave working man quote.
It got ahold of me when I first saw it. All of these songs and singers I sure deeply love. But if I have to pick just one, then it’s Aaron. “I got it honest.” Mary Lee and I still sing along with his “There Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong With the Radio.”
Why? You’ve gotta read Mary Lee’s Memories of a Rural Mail Driver: From Kitchen Post Offices & Steam Trains to Personal Data Terminals.
And maybe my Working on the Highway – Blasting through the Bedrock.
By the way, I’m not intending this page to support or attack any particular political group. I don’t belong. I always walked along to my own heartbeat (or maybe that’s my AFib). Nonpartisan. Nonaligned. Just an ol’ Lone Wolf with a lovin’ Mama Bear I don’t deserve.
These working man quotes are Dedicated to —
All the men and the women who grew up in blue denim.
List of Songs with these Working Man Quotes.
Working Man Blues
Hands of a Workin’ Man
I Don’t Want Your Millions, Mister
Beer on the Table
Working Man (I Am)
Workin’ for a Livin’
Take This Job and Shove It
9 to 5
The Cowboy’s Prayer
When the Work’s All Done This Fall
The Last Cowboy Song
Oney
Get Your Glass Up For The Working Woman
I Got it Honest
Canadian Railroad Trilogy
Tillsonburg
Lord Have Mercy On The Working Man
Hard Workin’ Man
(They Call Me The) Working Man
The Marketplace
Rich Men North of Richmond
==>> See Us on Our CELL PHONE FRIENDLY Format: BrianAlanBurhoe.com
