She Works Hard for the Money (song)
Encyclopedia
"She Works Hard for the Money" is a 1983 hit single by singer Donna Summer
. It was the first single released from the album of the same name.
-dance
fusion, the song became a hit for Summer and one of the singer's signature songs, reaching number one for a three-week stay atop the R&B chart (her first since 1979), number three on Billboard
s Pop Singles
chart, and number three on the dance chart. It was a number twenty-five hit in the UK.
, debuted on MTV
and became the first video by an African-American female artist to be placed in "heavy rotation" (a term used by MTV at the time to indicate a frequently-aired video). The video shows a woman, working as a waitress in a diner, who is burdened with many situations in her life such as work and raising two unruly and ungrateful children. It is also seen that she has abandoned her hopes of being a ballerina
. Summer appears as an observer through a kitchen window, a woman who assists the fallen-down protagonist of the video, and, at the end, a leader of a troupe of women, in various work uniforms, who have taken to the streets to signify their independence and gain recognition for their "hard work". The protagonist is also seen dancing in the street with them. In a parody of the image created by this video, Summer herself appears in the Frank Sinatra
video for "L.A. Is My Lady", released in 1984, as a waitress who serves a patron and then wipes her brow.
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
. It was the first single released from the album of the same name.
Premise
The song, co-written by the singer, told a story of a woman who "works hard for [her] money". It was based on an actual encounter that Summer had with an exhausted bathroom attendant.History
Built on a rockRock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
-dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
fusion, the song became a hit for Summer and one of the singer's signature songs, reaching number one for a three-week stay atop the R&B chart (her first since 1979), number three on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Pop Singles
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart, and number three on the dance chart. It was a number twenty-five hit in the UK.
Music video
The music video for the song, directed by Brian GrantBrian Grant (director)
Brian Grant is a British television director and producer, famed for directing episodes of British television series including As If, Hex, Doctor Who, Party Animals, Sinchronicity, Britannia High, Highlander, Queen of Swords, Clocking Off...
, debuted on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and became the first video by an African-American female artist to be placed in "heavy rotation" (a term used by MTV at the time to indicate a frequently-aired video). The video shows a woman, working as a waitress in a diner, who is burdened with many situations in her life such as work and raising two unruly and ungrateful children. It is also seen that she has abandoned her hopes of being a ballerina
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
. Summer appears as an observer through a kitchen window, a woman who assists the fallen-down protagonist of the video, and, at the end, a leader of a troupe of women, in various work uniforms, who have taken to the streets to signify their independence and gain recognition for their "hard work". The protagonist is also seen dancing in the street with them. In a parody of the image created by this video, Summer herself appears in the Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
video for "L.A. Is My Lady", released in 1984, as a waitress who serves a patron and then wipes her brow.
Official versions
- "She Works Hard for the Money" - (7" single version) - 4:10
- "She Works Hard for the Money" - (LP version) / (Album Version) - 5:19
- "She Works Hard for the Money" - (12" single version) - 6:15
- "She Works Hard for the Money" - (Instrumental version - B-side of 12" single) - 5:47
Chart positions
| Chart (1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
1 |
| Australian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 2 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 18 |
| French Singles Chart | 4 |
| German Singles Chart | 11 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 26 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 27 |
| Oricon Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... Japanese International Chart |
52 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 23 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 9 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 6 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 5 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 10 |
| UK Singles Chart | 25 |
Cover versions and appearances in other media
- Summer performed the song on the 1984 Grammy Awards. The live performance was released on the 1994 album Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume I.
- In 1983 "She Works Hard For the Money" was covered in several languages: "Náhodný známý" (Czech) by Helena VondráčkováHelena VondráckováHelena Vondráčková is a Czech singer whose career has spanned five decades.- Early life/career :Vondráčková spent her childhood years in the town of Slatinany. She took piano lessons from an early age...
, "Kova Duuni On Rahaa" (Finnish) by Meiju Suvas and "Lampenfieber" (German) by GitteGitte HænningGitte Hænning is a Danish singer and film actress, who rose to fame as a child star in the 1950s.Because her name was relatively unique, she was known primarily without a surname in Europe. She moved to Sweden in 1958. Her first hit in Swedish was "Tror du jag ljuger" from 1961...
. - Helena VondráčkováHelena VondráckováHelena Vondráčková is a Czech singer whose career has spanned five decades.- Early life/career :Vondráčková spent her childhood years in the town of Slatinany. She took piano lessons from an early age...
covered "She Works Hard For the Money" on her 1984 English language album I'm Your Song. - The Croatian rendering "Ona zna da me boli" was recorded by EmiliaEmilija KokicEmilija Kokić is a Croatian singer. She was the lead singer of the Yugoslav pop band Riva, which won the Eurovision Song Contest 1989 for Yugoslavia, with the song Rock Me....
in 1994. - Irene CaraIrene CaraIrene Cara is an American singer and actress. Cara won an Academy Award in 1984 in the category of Best Original Song for co-writing "Flashdance... What a Feeling." She is also known for her recording of the song "Fame", and she also starred in the 1980 film Fame.She married Hollywood stuntman...
sang a version of the song in Busted Up (1986). - Pitingo recorded "Lucha por su dinero", a Spanish rendering of "She Works Hard For the Money" done flamencoFlamencoFlamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
-style, for his November 2010 album release Olé y Amén: released as a single the track spent one week - that of January 23 2011 - in the Spanish Top 50 at #44. - During the Disneyland '30th Anniversary Special' aired in 1985, Summer sang this song but with Snow White and Cinderella taking the place of the working women of the video.
- "She Works Hard for the Money" as performed by Monalisa Young was featured in three episodes of the sitcom Married... with ChildrenMarried... with ChildrenMarried... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...
: "And Baby Makes Money" (December 16, 1990), "Banking on Marcy" (broadcast October 3 1993) and "Change For a Buck" (broadcast November 28 1993). - The song was sung by Jordin SparksJordin SparksJordin Brianna Sparks is an American pop / R&B singer-songwriter and actress. She hails from Glendale, Arizona who rose to fame as the winner of the sixth season of American Idol. Sparks won when she was 17 years old, making her the youngest winner in Idol history...
on the Top 3 round of American Idol season 6American Idol (Season 6)The sixth season of American Idol premiered on the Fox Broadcasting Company as a two-night, four-hour premiere special on January 16 and January 17, and ran until May 23, 2007. Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson returned to judge once again, and Ryan Seacrest returned as host...
in 2007. - Kris AllenKris AllenKristopher Neil "Kris" Allen is an American musician and singer-songwriter from Conway, Arkansas, and the winner of the eighth season of American Idol...
performed an acousticAcoustic musicAcoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
interpretation of the song during the second Top 7 of American Idol season 8 and eventually recorded it for the Season 8 CD.