It Took Seconds

Three minutes and thirty-four seconds: Ripped from vinyl, on an ‘MP3 turntable’ which kept fucking up the speed, this is “Money’s Too Tight To Mention” by The Valentine Brothers, a cover of which provided Simply Red with their first hit. It’s dignified, harsh early 80s soul (‘taches and saxes to the fore) which outlines life as the Reaganomic squeeze hit. Obviously the current situation sharpens the song further, but the real stomach-punch is in these lines, growled with stoic exhaustion by one Valentine or other: “I’m working 9 to 5, 5 days a week / I don’t make enough to survive”. Like Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” - released the year before - there’s an awful archaism in the working hours as presented. In 1982 the idea that fulfilling a working week could leave you below the breadline was presented - quite rightly - as an attack on a man’s dignity. In 2011 it just seems naive.

What would your 3’34” track be?