Music Monday: Always Working It

Look, Dolly Parton can do no wrong. Whether she’s helping get us out of this endless pandemic (I call the Moderna vaccine The Dolly and you can’t stop me) or turning down that Trump medal (TWICE!) or waiting to get her vaccination because she doesn’t want to jump the line (but seriously, Dolly, get your jab), she’s what I think can universally be considered a Good Egg. So, to be clear, she can do whatever the hell she wants with whatever the heck she wants, including her iconic working woman’s anthem “9 to 5.” I don’t begrudge her getting beaucoup upon beaucoup de bucks to use that song for a Super Bowl ad. She’s proven herself to be the real deal when it comes to her charities and philanthropy, so I have no doubt she’ll put it to righteous use.

I just wish the company, and its message, were worthy of her reworking perfection. Again, I don’t blame Dolly, but Squarespace’s “5 to 9” ad is the antithesis of a working person’s anthem. It’s buying into the capitalist brainwashing that says only through hard, relentless and indeed - as the song suggests - endless work can we achieve greater rewards. Let me be clear, hard work doesn’t always mean more rewards. All too often, the hard work of the masses only benefits the rarified few. There’s a reason billionaires gained $3.9 trillion during the pandemic while workers lost $3.7 trillion during the pandemic. We shouldn’t have to work 9 to 5, and then form 5 to 9 again to have a good life. Sure, follow your passions and do what makes you happy. But we shouldn’t have to keep working, working, working to be happy. We need work that makes us happy, and a society that values our work and our lives.

But, as I was saying, that’s not Dolly’s fault. So I think I’ll just press play on the original, with a little help from some kickass female friends to start this week off right instead. Happy Monday, kittens.