Working Class Man (1985)

This song, written by Johnathan Cain, and performed by Jimmy Barnes, is a song which was produced in 1985, and has become an iconic song in Australian history. Its lyrics highlight the importance of the blue collar, working class demographic which is evident in Australian society. Also, the video clip helps a long way in order to creating a true Australian media representation from the song.

The song tells the story, and also gives insight into the lives of the working class demographic which is prevalent in Australia during the 1980’s. They are the kind of people that ‘work hard to make a living, bringing shelter from the rain’. These two opening lines alone already tell us of the kinds of people we are being told about. They are all-sacrificing, willing to help out their fellow man, as well as working to their capacities and striving through terrible conditions in order to provide for their families. ‘A father’s son left to carry on blue denim in his vein’ suggests they are people that carry on family traditions, this line saying that the son has been left to carry on in his father’s blue collar lifestyle. ‘He’s a steel town deciple, he’s a legend of his kind’ tells the listener that the working class man Barnes is describing is a worker who is in the trade of traditional Australians, typically manual labour tasks (ie, the steel industry). But also, he is a real success, and performs his job extremely efficiently and is deemed a person of utmost respect. And when ‘he’s running like a cyclone, across the midwestern sky’, it really is showing to us that he is really intense with his work ethic, and he’s a trailblazer in his trade. The song also shows that he has the beliefs which are common with a majority of Australia, as ‘he believes in god and Elvis, he gets out when he can’. This also shows that he is of the same religion as the mass proportion of Australians, that being catholic/christian. He is also a patriotic member of society, as ‘he did his time in Vietnam’, fighting the war for his country. But then also, he shares the belief that Australia was thrusted into the war unjustly, and how we were fighting a war which we might not should have, as he was ‘still angry at Uncle Sam’. He is also one to sacrifice anything, for the one’s he loves, seen in these lines, ‘well he loves a woman, someday he’ll make his wife, saving all the overtime, for the one love of his life’. And lastly, a working class man also demonstrates an easy come, easy go attitude, and also an attitude that is easygoing and stress-free. This is because ‘he ain’t worried about tomorrow, cause he just made up his mind, life’s too short for burning bridges, take it one day at a time’.

The video clip is also successful in maintaining the belief that this is a representation of the blue collar Australia population group. For the first third of the clip, it is shot in and around a steel mill, one of the typical workplaces for this kind of demographic. Also, some of the workers there are also filmed, and they are seen to be the quintessential meaning of an Australian male, they look rugged, fairly athletic and look as if they have been pretty hard at work. Then, there’s a scene where a couple of friends are seated around a table playing a card game, which shows the Australian value of mateship and being together in a friendly community. The video clip then shows a field of crops, and a couple of people harvesting them. They are also seen as part of the working class, as they are partaking in a job that requires a lot of physical labour and effort in order to get the job done. They are also seen to have the same physical characteristics as they fellow blue collar workers who were in the steel mill. Barnes himself also demonstrates some of the characteristics which are seen in the blue collar population group. He has a hairstyle which was quite popular back in the 80’s, he wears a singlet top for the entirety of the film clip, he looks really passionate about singing the song and yet has a swagger about him which suggests he is easy going.

Both the lyrics and film clip to ‘Working Class Man’ are both very good representations of the working class group of Australian citizens. They have not been seen in a negative light at all by the producers, thus meaning that nothing has really been left out of the representation. The song is iconic in Australian history, as it was able to tell the story of the working class Australians, as well as acknowledge their role in the general society of Australia. So, ‘Working Class Man’ was not only one of the most successful Australian songs of the 80’s, but also, it is a representation of blue collar Australia which serves them a lot of justice.