Bang the Drum All Day
"Bang the Drum All Day" is a 1983 song by Todd Rundgren. The lyrics describe, in the first person, the singer's drive to "bang on the drum all day" to the exclusion of everything else. All the instruments on this track are performed by Rundgren. The song has become popular as an anti-work anthem or anthem of celebration.
| "Bang the Drum All Day" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 U.S. release | ||||
| Single by Todd Rundgren | ||||
| from the album The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | April 1983 | |||
| Recorded | 1982 at Utopia Sound Studios | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:38 | |||
| Label | Bearsville | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Todd Rundgren | |||
| Producer(s) | Todd Rundgren | |||
| Todd Rundgren singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Rundgren would re-record the song live for subscribers to his Patronet service. The new version was retitled "Bang the Ukulele Daily", referring to Rundgren's decision to perform it in a Hawaiian style, accompanied only by a ukulele. "Bang the Ukulele Daily" was included on his album One Long Year.
In popular culture
The song is played in Lambeau Field after the Green Bay Packers score a touchdown.[1] It was similarly used by the Cincinnati Bengals in the early 2000s and brought back in 2017 as well as by the Indianapolis Colts until being replaced by The Black Keys' "Gold on the Ceiling". The St. Louis Rams also used the song as touchdown celebration music during home games at the TWA Dome during their Super Bowl-winning 1999 season.
The song is used by conservative talk radio host Jim Quinn as his union heads-up theme. Boston conservative talk host Howie Carr also plays a snippet to poke fun at the Occupy Wall Street movement.
The song is referenced in the video game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind by the popular scamp merchant, Creeper. One of his dialogue phrases is, "Don't want to work. Just want to bang on my drum. What's a scamp gotta do?"
The song was featured in a 1997 commercial for Ericsson entitled "Phone Boss Vacation", where a bunch of workers are shown dancing to the song. They quickly turn it off when a woman is answers a phone call from the boss who is on vacation.
That song is featured in the trailer of the 1998 DreamWorks animated movie Antz, in The Prince of Egypt 1999 VHS opening, and the Shrek 2001 VHS opening.
The song was featured in the trailer and tv spot of the 2008 family movie Nim's Island.
The song is featured on the radio show The Morning Drive on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio, a morning talk show hosted by Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone. The song is used on Friday mornings to celebrate the upcoming weekend. Likewise for many years, classic hits station WKLH in Milwaukee played it every Friday at 5 p.m. to signal the end of the work week. WXLP in Moline, Illinois, plays the song every Friday as well during the Dwyer and Michael's morning show as well as WHTZ in New York City every Friday during the Z Morning Zoo.
The song is referenced by Michael Scott from The Office on the episode "The Fight". The lyrics are changed to "I don't want to work, I just wanna bang on this mug all day".[2][3]
The song was also featured in commercials for Carnival Cruise Line, which paid Rundgren "ridiculous money to use it".[4]
Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | UK Singles Chart[5] | 86 |
| 1983 | US Billboard Pop Singles[6] | 63 |
| 1983 | US Billboard Mainstream Rock[6] | 39 |
References
- Wolfley, Bob. "Musician Rundgren happy his song is a big bang in Lambeau". www.jsonline.com. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
- LordExolios (May 14, 2010), I don't want to work..., retrieved March 11, 2016
- "Bang the Drum All Day by Todd Rundgren Songfacts". www.songfacts.com. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
- Todd Rundgren explains why he’s never taken the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame seriously
- "The Official Charts Company - Todd Rundgren". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
- "allmusic ((( Todd Rundgren > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". Billboard. Retrieved 2011-12-17.