View source for Don't Give Up Your Daytime Job

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!  colspan="2" | <big>'''Don't Give Up Your Daytime Job'''</big>
|- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
|  colspan="2" align="center" | [[Image:45rpm.png|thumb|center|If song was released as a single, include single cover art. Otherwise, include album cover artwork to replace the 45 rpm, if available.]]
|- style="background-color: #E6E6E6;"
!  colspan="2" | Recorded by [[Sting (person) | Sting]] and possibly [[Jean Roussel]]
|- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
| <b>Released:</b>
| officially unreleased
|- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
| <b>Recorded:</b>
| [[1981]]
|- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
| <b>Length:</b>
| LENGTH
|- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
| <b>Album(s):</b>
| unreleased
|- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
| <b>Label(s):</b>
| ---
|- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
| <b>Writer(s):</b>
| [[Sting (person) | Sting]]
|- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
| <b>Producer(s):</b>
| [[Sting (person) | Sting]] / [[Jean Roussel]] (?)
|- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
| <b>Studio(s):</b>
| Jean Roussel's home in Montreal, Canada (?)
|- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
| <b>Released as single:</b>
| No
|}

'''Don't Give Up Your Daytime Job''' is a song written by [[Sting (person) | Sting]] and recorded by [[Sting (person) | Sting]] and possibly [[Jean Roussel]] as a demo in [[1981]].

=About the song=
According to the book [[L'Historia Bandido]] [[Sting]] wrote this song for [[Last Exit]] after he quit his teacher's job in the summer of [[1976]]. In [[1977]] he presented the song to [[Henry Padovani]] and [[Stewart Copeland]], who rejected it because it's message didn't suit the current punk vibe.

The demo version that's circulating among fans is probably from a later date - at least [[Jean Roussel]] thinks that the keyboards in the song sound like him playing. This would mean that it was recorded either in late [[1980]] or early [[1981]] in Montreal, Canada.

=Personnel=
* [[Sting]] - vocals
* possibly [[Jean Roussel]] - keyboards

=Release History=
This song is only circulating in its demo version on the "Ghost demos".

=Lyrics=
<pre>
I hadn't slept for three whole weeks
I'm burning the midnight oil
The pace of work had reached the stage
That sleep could only spoil

It was early morning in the fading light
My creation was not complete
The song that I composed alone
It was inside of me

The song would be my masterpiece
The one to make my name
Bring me immortality
Inside the hall of fame

I took it to my publisher
My heart was bursting with pride
"Listen very carefully"
Then took me aside

"Now listen son
I like your song
It's got a certain charm
But don't give up your daytime job
And you won't come to no harm"

Don´t give up your daytime job
Don´t give up your daytime job

I started to devote my life
To painting and the arts
Leave the music world behind
To break them precious hearts

I bought a brush and tube of paint
And a canvas of my own
Started painting brick-a-brack
That lay around my home

The work would be my masterpiece
The one to make my name
Bring me immortality
Inside the hall of fame

I took it to a gallery
To see if they would buy
They turned my picture upside down
And then released a sigh

"Now Listen son
Don't get me wrong
Your talent is quite clear
Just don't give up your daytime job
And stay away from here"

Don't give up your daytime job
Don't give up your daytime job
Don't give up your daytime job
Don't give up your daytime job

I had to give expression
To the thoughts inside my head
I bought myself a writing pad
I'd write a book instead

I'd write my own biography
The story of my life
The day I started grammar school
To the day I met my wife

This book would be a masterpiece
The one to make my name
Bring me immortality
Inside the hall of fame

I took it to a publisher
He said,
"I'll read your book at home"
A week went by, I heard no news
And so I telephoned

"I read as far as chapter three
Then I tore your book in half
Just don't give up your daytime job
And you won't ever starve"

Don't give up your daytime job
Don't give up your daytime job

This could be my masterpiece
This could be my masterpiece
This could be my masterpiece
This could be my masterpiece
This could be my masterpiece
This could be my masterpiece
This could be my masterpiece 
</pre>

=Quotations and trivia=
Between recording the demo for [[Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic]] in winter [[1980]]/[[1981]] and the Montserrat recordings in the summer of [[1981]] [[Sting (person) | Sting]] returned to Montreal and stayed at [[Jean Roussel]]'s house for a few days. They recorded a few songs which they had written together - and probably this one, too.

=Alternative and cover versions=
''This section needs more information.''

=See also=
''This section needs more information.''

=External links=
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATj7XNB0kBg demo on youtube]

=References=
source: [[L'Historia Bandido]], [[Henry Padovani]], demo

[[Category:Songs (Sting)]]