This page is provided so that you can hear the tunes of items which we use in church. Mostly they are written by the vicar. Please note that they are copyright - we are very happy to give permission to you to use them, but we would like to hear about it. Please include any use on your Christian Copyright Licence returns.
Down this page:
- the words,
- the story,
- the sheet music,
- media player.
I don't wanna job
I don't wanna job
I don't wanna job, I had one once,
I worked selling cars, got a huge response,
but it got so I hated the daily grind
of trying to confuse the public's mind.
Now I'm honest, I work for the Lord
and with him I never get bored.
I don't wanna work for any old feller,
it's not that I'm work-shy or lazy or yeller,
the workplace is so compromised
that immoral smoke gets in ev'ryone's eyes.
Now I'm diff'rent, I work for the Lord
and with him I never get bored.
I don't wanna slave and toil away,
at things that won't stand on the Last Great Day.
I guess there are jobs with honour and pride
but in jobs I did, my spirit just died!
Now I'm living, I work for the Lord
and with him I never get bored.
How, you may ask, do I spend all my time?
I'm part of God's mission, the work is Divine.
He is seeking, he's pursuing,
he loves the people, and he's renewing:
he's savin' folks and that's what I'm doin'.
I don't wanna job, I've got no time,
the Lord pays my wage, lots more than a dime:
the life that I live is now hidden with God,
and that's the truth even though it sounds odd.
Now I'm secure, I work for the Lord
and with him I never get bored.
What, you may ask, makes me get up and go?
Well I've found a friend who's the greatest to know.
He came down especially to show
there's life for all people, we can know him:
deep in our hearts his Spirit can flow.
I don't wanna job, I've work to do:
this gospel's for all, including you!
If you come to Jesus, repent and believe
you'll find new life: you can't conceive
how I'm fulfilled as I work for the Lord,
and you can too, for a great reward!
Words and tune copyright © John Hartley 2006.
Dedicated to Jim Fuller and based on some of his words.
Story behind the song
These lyrics are inspired by Jim Fuller, a contributor to the Christian Songwriting Organisation web forum under the user-name "doanwanajob". Another Jim challenged him to explain the user-name, and Jim posted an explanation of it on the site (which you can see by clicking here). Part of his explanation reads:
"The only business I know well is the "Car Business" I did exceptionally well in it (stealing money from nice people to sell them a car) but I couldn't stand it any more. I have worked for my self now for about four years and pray I don't ever have to get a job (working for some one else) again. I am heavily involved in evangelism and teaching "lifestyle evangelism" and working for myself has also given me a tremendous amount of freedom and opportunity to pursue this and work for "Him" too. I am at the point in my life that money and things are of very little importance outside of His will."
When I read this, I admired the honesty very much, and it rang bells with what other people have said about God's call to various ministries. As you can see it's not laziness but a real desire for usefulness and integrity. I immediately thought "there's a song in here!" - and here it is. It's dedicated to Jim.
As you'll notice, the words fit the tune rather irregularly. For a better copy of the tune, you could use a music-writing program (such as NoteWorthy Composer) to download the midi file and analyse the fit of the words to the tune. Also, the first two verses are in C# minor before the tune rises a semitone to the key of D minor in which it is written.
John Hartley
Windows Media Player. When you click the left-hand "play" button your computer should have started to play the tune. If it didn't, you might be able to get the tune by clicking here, or by right-clicking the link, choosing "save target as", saving it onto your computer, and then opening it with a music-playing program.
Please remember that a midi file of a tune isn't supposed to be a state-of-the-art musical arrangement - it is only supposed to give a basic idea of how the tune goes. Any reasonable organist / keyboard player / music group could make it sound far better.