Brutal Male Overseer

 Song 614: This week the playlist comes around to Boss Man by Gordon Lightfoot, who also wrote the song, and you can find a YouTube video of it by clicking on the title. In the summer of 1970 I listened a lot to LPs by new guy James Taylor and veteran folkie Judy Collins that I had added to my collection in the spring, during my college freshman year, and their influence helped me refine my own personal original singer/songwriter style. As my sophomore year unfolded that fall, I included a few other prominent acoustic-guitar handlers in my 33 stack, with Gordon soon getting plenty of turntable spins. In the late winter and early spring of 1971 I rode an unexpected romantic roller coaster, but behind the passion scene Mr. Lightfoot's intriguing rambles lit up my background quite well. Back then, people often spoke of Dylanesque protest songs, implying that such a form seemed simplistic and obsolete. I thought it ridiculous to dismiss stuff like anti-war anthems, especially as the Viet Nam death toll hit a new level, and I liked the way GL wrote and released works that addressed current event issues, with this sparkler quickly becoming a shining example. I would bet many folks hearing this piece around the time it came out would recognize the kind of brutal manager it portrays, but these days, a much bigger percentage of US laborers have holes in their pockets and holes in their shoes while the company plan takes all their pay. Hopefully the recent Starbucks and Amazon union victories are a sign that workers are finally starting to get this wheel back on the track, and maybe at some point in the near future it can roll again. On a side note, the coal-mining boss at the center of the lyric sounds very similar to those who did the bidding of a certain Mr. Hatfield who managed The Sago Mine, and you can check out my illuminating lyric video of the sad event there that killed 12 miners in 2006 by clicking on that title.