A Song For The People

Charlene knows first-hand about the frustration people experience in today's job market. Along with writing and performing music, she has also worked as a consultant in the software engineering field. In the past, Charlene hasn't included political themes in her songwriting and commented, "I always felt that music and politics didn't mix for me, but my experience in the last year has changed that." Being somewhat of a scrapper, she wasn't too worried about the consulting side of her income. She had heard some references to the term outsourcing, but because she had experienced so much opportunity and flexibility in the technology field, she didn't think it was much of an issue. In the summer of 2003, she decided to attend a software training class, just to upgrade skills. On one of the class breaks Charlene came across a fellow student who was obviously upset and trying to gain composure. Charlene starting talking to the woman and learned that she is a single mother of two who had, until recently, worked in the tech industry for many years. She said that she was extremely stressed about her long-term unemployment situation. How could it go from so good to so bad for a successful woman with an upper middle class income, mortgage and life style? The woman said that she was considering taking a job in a warehouse, but that the income from that kind of position would not be enough to meet her expenses. She never thought that her career would result in this kind of decision. Charlene started meeting more and more people facing this undesirable choice. The best part of the creative process is when there is a distinct trigger. Charlene wrote "Take That Job" in a country/folk style to convey the feelings of discouragement and disengagement people experience when the skills they have worked hard to develop are less valued because of declining job opportunities. "I didn't plan on writing a song with political commentary", Charlene said, "I just grabbed the nearest pen and paper and wrote the song. This one is for the people." The words of the song are not meant to be taken literally. The lyrics "You'll find me at the tavern" and "I'll just wait for the rest of the world to get everything they need" are thoughts that people dealing with the frustration of this kind of job dilemma might have. They may not have the option of taking this plan of non-action but they sure feel like it! They feel let down, discouraged and frustrated after working so hard and watching opportunities disappear. The issues of outsourcing, H-1b and L1-b Visas over-time pay take away, benefit cuts and salary freezes combine to form a clear message to the job seeker; you better take that job while you can and consider yourself lucky!