20 Great Country Songs About Losing Your Job

Country music is all about the real lives of working class people, so it's no surprise that unemployment, getting fired and getting laid off are all popular themes.

The genre boats a ton of songs about work in general — especially blue-collar work — but songs about parting ways with your employer are a little harder to find. Still, if you're looking for a great song to sing your out-of-work blues, country music still has plenty of great options.

Johnny Paycheck's "Take This Job and Shove It" is a popular rallying cry for workers, and one of the all-time greatest musical kiss-offs to a boss who isn't treating employees right.

Several more songs are odes to the Average Joes who often lose their jobs in the name of progress and industry streamlining. Ronnie Dunn's "Cost of Livin'" and John Rich's "Shuttin' Detroit Down" are two great songs dedicated to the workers who lose out when factories shutter.

Also on this list, you'll find songs about the harrowing experience of being out of work, and the anxiety of not knowing how you're going to feed yourself, your loved ones and your children.

But not all these songs are sad, and they're not all about getting fired. A handful of these tracks are about sticking it to the boss man, and boy, does it feel good! One Johnny Cash song is even about a worker who sticks it out all the way to retirement, just so he can punch his boss square in the mouth.

If you're looking for something even more lighthearted, keep scrolling: A couple of songs on this list are less about work than they are about love. After all, getting fired means getting to spend more time with your spouse, and that's not all bad.