Work songs: recommended masterpieces and popular tracks
There are plenty of songs that cheer on people working hard every day, but I’ve put together a selection of so-called “message songs” for those who are labeled—or call themselves—corporate drones.
I’m sure there are tracks you’ll find nothing but relatable, so when you’re worn out from work or need a little mental breathing room, listen with the idea of finding comrades.
These songs will make you feel relieved or crack a smile, and they should help you reset and think, “Maybe I can push just a little more!”
- Songs that help you work hard. Cheer songs for working people.
- An encouraging work song for office workers
- I want to quit my job!! Uplifting songs to listen to when work is tough
- Songs I want to listen to when I'm tired from work
- [A Cheer for Myself] A pep song dedicated to you who are doing your very best
- Masterpieces that sing of effort. Recommended popular songs.
- Power songs that fill you with energy just by listening. Recommended classics and popular tracks.
- A perfect song for Labor Thanksgiving Day. A song that conveys gratitude and encouragement.
- [Motivation Injection] Songs to listen to on days when you don't want to go to work
- Songs with strong messages. Classic J-Pop masterpieces and recommended popular tracks.
- [Today's Cheer Song] To everyone giving it your all! A gem of an inspiring anthem that resonates with the heart
- [Cheer Song] Songs to Listen to During Your Commute
- Job-change anthems: inspiring and popular songs that give you courage
Work songs: recommended masterpieces and popular tracks (41–50)
Truck Driving BoogieDauntaun Bugiuugi Bando (Tachikawa Shōten Feisutibō)
The legal maximum speed for trucks is 80 km/h, and these days company truck drivers have their speed strictly monitored by digital tachographs and the like.
But when you put it into a song, the cabin still feels like your own little castle and you’re in high spirits.
Watch out for lack of sleep, and let’s drive safely again today.
nurseNihonjin
It’s a work song by a man who actually works as a nurse in pediatrics, singing about what he feels every day.
His motivation for becoming a nurse is wonderful, and the way he shows his gratitude by working hard with the children in the pediatric ward, never forgetting his smile, really shines.
When a child is hospitalized, it’s truly heartbreaking for the family, and it’s extremely hard on the child as well.
Dream Bus GirlSandaime Koromubia Rōzu
The original “Bus Girl Song” became popular in the era before buses were converted to one-person operation, when even route buses had female conductors on board.
Today, many women are active as bus guides, especially on tour buses.
Inheriting from the first singer, Columbia Rose, the bus girl song has been carried on by the third-generation singer, Mina Nomura, who sings for the Heisei era.
Gray fingertipsInoue Yosui
In Inoue Yosui’s unique world, it sounds as if he’s satirizing society through the story of a single man working in press fabrication.
The man’s fingerprints have disappeared after endlessly doing assembly-line work, yet even if one man’s fingerprints fade away, what remains for him is, after all, that assembly-line—what a difficult song.
large fishing boatKitajima Saburō
Saburo Kitajima has stepped away from the spotlight as a singer, and these days we often see him in newspapers and on TV as a racehorse owner, but his powerful performances singing of men of the sea are truly exceptional.
You can vividly grasp the life-or-death fishing that leads up to a celebratory big catch.
I’d love to hear him sing again.
Fight, GhostwriterMegurine Ruka
It’s a Vocaloid song that makes you jittery with an insanely fast BPM.
It layers a hero-theme-style melody over a samba rhythm, packing in tons of musical elements.
The title plays on “ghostwriter” and “Kamen Rider,” and the chorus urges you to fight.
Young police officerHikawa Kiyoshi
It’s a hit song sung by Shiro Sone in 1956 (Showa 31).
You can feel the era in the part where natto isn’t sold in packs but wrapped in straw.
The police officer is young, yet his way of speaking sounds oddly old-fashioned.
Still, the way he invites the woman at the tobacco shop he visits while off duty on a date in the end shows he’s very much a young officer at heart.