It was the fall of 1987 and I was entering my second month at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and rooming with my best friend Chris Vining.
That first six weeks or so had been amazing. So many new experiences, new people, and surroundings. Yet, there was still a pang of homesickness.
Vining and I grew up together, so we shared the same hometown.
Thanksgiving was approaching, and the workload was big, and getting to us in different ways. I knew I was feeling incredibly behind in most of my courses.
It was Sunday night, the time we usually called home, because long distance was cheapest on Sunday nights.
We agreed we were not only going home for Thanksgiving, but if we cut our Thursday class, Ed Psych 263, we could live with cutting our Friday classes because we figured there wouldn’t be too much before a long weekend. Plus, we could score the notes off people we knew in those classes.
Chris and I shared a phone too. After we both finished telling our moms we’d be home for Thanksgiving, Chris turned to me.
“All right,” he said. “The next four days, we’re working for the weekend.”
Then we looked at each other and sang, “Everybody’s Working for the Weekend”.
The song
Loverboy, that venerable and iconic 1980s Canadian rock band, released “Working for the Weekend” in 1981. It was part of their “Get Lucky” album, which featured that close-up photo of someone crossing their fingers behind their back up against red leather pants.
Loverboy, that venerable and iconic 1980s Canadian rock band, released “Working for the Weekend” in 1981. It was part of their “Get Lucky” album, which featured that close-up photo of someone crossing their fingers behind their back up against red leather pants.
The song went all the way to number 10 in Canada and number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1982.
In the beginning
My first recollection of the song was at a junior high dance at St. Joseph’s School in Coaldale. In fact, a Grade 8 girl asked me to dance to that song, but she was just trying to make another guy jealous. Ironically, she would date him all through high school, marry him, and, when I last heard, they are still together.
My first recollection of the song was at a junior high dance at St. Joseph’s School in Coaldale. In fact, a Grade 8 girl asked me to dance to that song, but she was just trying to make another guy jealous. Ironically, she would date him all through high school, marry him, and, when I last heard, they are still together.
Parting thoughts
It was classic teenage hijinx. Chris and I were both 17 at the time. At times, pretty much anything made us laugh. Plus, we used to play word association games like that all the time.
It was classic teenage hijinx. Chris and I were both 17 at the time. At times, pretty much anything made us laugh. Plus, we used to play word association games like that all the time.
Whenever I hear “Working for the Weekend” I do think about a simpler time, when we laughed at the oddest things, were just starting on the journey to find ourselves, and were surrounded by good, Canadian rock and roll.
And by the way, I started writing this post when you guessed it – I was “Working for the Weekend”.
No comments:
Post a Comment