Occupations by frequency as mentioned in the lyrics of David Bowie

boing
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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/09/09/occupations-by-frequency-as-me.html

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lol he forgot “ground controller” or whatever the job description it is of the person doing Ground Control. derp!

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Suffragette?

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Based on the comments it seems a lot of cases were considered, but I disagree with the decision to separate King and Queen as separate jobs.

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They forgot:

  • spaceboy
  • young dude
  • laughing gnome
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  • American
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And if we’re including gerund phrases (as apparently we are):

  • chippin’ around
  • stealing clothes from Marks and Sparks
  • beating up the wrong guys

And what happened to “hero”, FFS?

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This is actually addressed in the thread under the tweet. Someone asks if hero shouldn’t have been on the list, but jokingly says, “I guess if it were for more than one day.” The guy who wrote the tweet apparently spent a long time thinking about whether to include “hero” and decided against it as it wasn’t really a paying profession.

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Ah, I missed that vital qualification. I still stand by “spaceboy” and “stealing clothes from Marks and Sparks”, though.

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Detective
Artist
Architect
Barkeep
Astronaut

(Goes to check)

None of those are even on there.
(Raises eyebrow)

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I think I’d include “thief” if it was mentioned, but not a description of the act of being a thief. Otherwise, how would you parse out the jobs mentioned in the first verse of Ziggy Stardust? Clearly it’s a reference to the job of being a pop or rock star, but is the entire verse one reference to that job, or is each line a separate reference to that job? The whole project would sink into a philosophy-of-language quagmire.

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Um, the man who sold the world.

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“Putting Camel Shit on the Walls: The Semantics of Occupation in the Works of David Robert Jones”. I wonder if you could get a research grant for that.

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Massively incomplete attempt at similar list for Leonard Cohen (without numbers or rankings, because I’m lazy):

  • Singer
  • Sailor
  • Thief
  • Sister of Mercy
  • Partisan
  • Unspecified job in the fashion business
  • Captain
  • Hairdresser
  • Playing burning violins
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D.J. - I am.

also:
That weren’t no D.J. that was hazy cosmic jive

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This seems like more of an “I’m going to get attention on Twitter by doing something intentionally wrong” kind of thing than an honest investigation of Bowie lyrics.

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Where are the Juvenile Delinquent Wrecks, Tigers on Vaseline and Rock 'n Roll Suicides"?

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Tom Waits:

  • Ice Man
  • Vagabond
  • Butcher
  • Calendar Girl
  • Is “Mischevious Braingel” a job?
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What an ugly spreadsheet.

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What’s the difference between “Beggar Man” and “Beggar Man”?

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