Doo Wop Classics

Now, this is doo wop syllables with a vengeance. Yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip, mum mum mum mum mum mum, Get a job. Yes, get a job. Who hasn’t heard that from someone? The song “Get a Job” by the Silhouettes went to #1 on both the U.S. Pop and R&B charts in 1958, going on to become a doo wop anthem. Group member Richard Lewis wrote the song in 1955 when he was in the U.S. army. When Lewis returned home to  Philadelphia, he joined a church quartet called the Gospel Tornadoes, which then became a secular group, The Thunderbirds. They recorded for  DJ  Kae Williams on Junior Records and changed their name to The Silhouettes after the hit song “Silhouettes” by The Rays.  As the song became successful, they sold the recording to Ember Records, which reissued it for national distribution. The group consisted of William Horton, Richard Lewis,  Earl T. Beal, and Raymond Edwards. The doo-wop revival group Sha Na Na got their name form the lyrics to “Get a Job.” The song is also featured in American Graffiti, Trading Places, and Stand by Me. The Silhouettes performed it in the 1986 film Joey.

Here are the lyrics to “Get a Job” by The Silhouettes:

“Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip
Mum mum mum mum mum mum
Get a job Sha na na na, sha na na na na
Every morning about this time
She get me out of my bed
A-crying get a job.
After breakfast, everyday,
She throws the want ads right my way
And never fails to say,
Get a job Sha na na na, sha na na na na
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip
Mum mum mum mum mum mum
Get a job Sha na na na, sha na na na na
And when I get the paper
I read it through and through
And my girl never fails to say
If there is any work for me,
And when I go back to the house
I hear the woman’s mouth
Preaching and a crying,
Tell me that I’m lying ’bout a job
That I never could find.
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip
Mum mum mum mum mum mum
Get a job Sha na na na, sha na na na na

[Instrumental]

And when I get the paper
I read it through and through
And my girl never fails to say
If there is any work for me,
And when I go back to the house
I hear the woman’s mouth
Preaching and a crying,
Tell me that I’m lying ’bout a job
That I never could find.
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip
Mum mum mum mum mum mum
Get a job Sha na na na, sha na na na na…”

For More Golden Oldies Music

The Daily Doo Wop Rec Room has daily featured doo wop, rock and roll, R&B, or rockabilly songs that were hits during the first era of rock and roll (that is, from about 1952 until the British invasion in 1964). After a song is featured, it then goes into the juke box. You are welcome to listen to any of the 40+ selections there. Every weekend, there is a Golden Oldies Juke Box Saturday Night, and the juke box is full of song requests from the 1950s and 1960s.

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