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Julie Tucker
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Are your Monday’s manic?

As one of the most infectious pop ditties of the 1980s, Manic Monday by The Bangles strikes a chord with most of us who dislike this day of the week but what’s the song about and why are Mondays given such a bashing?

A classic tune
American pop and rock band The Bangles enjoyed a massive hit with Manic Monday back in 1986, when it charted at number two in the USA, UK and other countries.

Written by pop legend Prince, under the pseudonym Christopher, the Purple One was originally intending to give the track to Apollonia 6. However, after gaining admiration for one of The Bangles’ previous songs, Hero Takes a Fall, he gave Manic Monday to them instead.

Manic Monday was the first single to be released from The Bangles’ second album, Different Light and it became their first major international hit. Ironically, it was Prince’s chart-topping hit Kiss which prevented Manic Monday from reaching the number one spot at that time.

The lyrics
The lyrics in Manic Monday describe a girl getting up to go to work on a Monday morning, wishing wholeheartedly that it was still Sunday. The song starts with the girl waking up from a romantic dream and then fretting over being late for work and not getting paid. She reminisces about Sunday, describing it as a relaxing, fun and carefree day, where she ‘doesn’t have to run’. The song also suggests that she had been kept up the night before by her out-of-work lover, who she’s supporting financially, adding more pressure for her to get to work on time.

The term Manic Monday is most famously related to this song to describe a hectic start to the working week, but it’s also often heard in other ways. It can be used to describe the last Monday before Christmas, when goods can be bought online with guaranteed delivery before December 25th. Manic Monday has also been used to refer to the middle Monday at Wimbledon tennis tournaments.

The Bangles aren’t the only pop group to rant about their aversion to Mondays; The Boomtown Rats also had a hit with I Don’t Like Mondays and Fats Domino describes Monday as a mess, in his Blue Monday tune.

Why are Mondays so manic?
Most people can relate to Manic Monday and the feelings of dread portrayed through the lyrics of The Bangles song. Over half of Londoners, in particular, experience the Monday Blues, with one-in-five full-time workers pulling a sickie on a Monday in the last 12 months. A Telegraph study found that on average, we don’t crack our first smile on a Monday until 11:16 am, while a Gallop poll found that 70% of people are completely disengaged from their job. In fact, work dread anticipation can start as early as Sunday according to Mind, who discovered that 66% of people often experience the so-called Sunday Blues.

Scientists have concluded that there are genuine reasons why workers loathe Monday. The dramatic shift from weekend routines can upset your body clock on a Monday, resulting in tiredness and irritability. Monday Blues may also harp back to our cavemen days, where people feel the need to reconnect with their tribe after time apart. Even after two days off work, scientists argue that workers need to spend time connecting with their colleagues again to gain a sense of security in their environment before starting work tasks.

While Mondays aren’t going to disappear off the working calendar any time soon, there are lots of ways to make them less manic. Headspace Group provides a wide range of comfortable co-working environments that help to improve a typical manic Monday – or any other day of the week for that matter!

 

Image Credit: Tabercil / CC BY-SA 3.0

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