Videos by American Songwriter
At the height of the British invasion and the Motown explosion, no one expected a song with an intricate vocal arrangement and a pseudo-yodel by four young men from Pennsylvania to become a major chart hit in the U.S. and Canada. Even more unlikely was that the song would go on to play a significant part in popular culture. That song about the drudgery, even hopelessness, of having to work for a living for somebody else every day was “Five O’Clock World” by the Vogues.
Unbelievably, it’s been over 51 years since “Five O’Clock World” was released to both popular and critical acclaim. With a track provided by some up-and-coming Nashville 1960s session players, the group added its vocals to the song in Pittsburgh, not a common practice in 1965. The song was written by a onetime bank employee in Memphis named Allen Reynolds, who would go on to become the producer of all seven of Garth Brooks’ diamond-selling albums. Reynolds’ insightful lyrics in this song may be more relevant than ever in this era of insane traffic congestion, long lines, and a 40-hour week that usually seems a lot longer:
Up every morning just to keep a job
I gotta fight my way through the hustling mob
Sounds of the city pounding in my brain
While another day goes down the drain
But Vogues lead singer Bill Burkette finds solace in the arms of his woman at the end of the day:
In the shelter of her arms everything’s okay
She talks and the world goes slipping away
And I know the reason I can still go on
When every other reason is gone
The line ‘Cause it’s a five o’clock world when the whistle blows is obviously a little dated in the 21st century, as very few workplaces actually have a whistle blowing at quitting time anymore. But the phrase still holds up as a figure of speech.
After it was appropriately featured in the 1987 Robin Williams movie Good Morning, Vietnam, “Five O’Clock World” was introduced to yet another generation as the theme for the outstanding opening sequence of The Drew Carey Show, and was later retooled for the show by pop-punkers Bowling for Soup. Country singer Hal Ketchum cut a fine version, albeit perhaps a little slow, of “Five O’Clock World” with Reynolds himself co-producing.
More than half a century later, the Vogues are still singing this song in live performances with original lead singer Burkette. And even if he hadn’t produced Garth Brooks, Don Williams and others, the now-retired Reynolds can lay claim to having written what turned out to be an instantly-recognizable timeless and classy pop song.
