Editorial note — CHAPTER FIVE BACKGROUND MUSIC

[III.] The use of industrial music is not to be confused with working songs. Working songs are those sung by groups performing tedious or strenuous work to help them maintain good rhythm and spirit. Bücher (Bücher, K., Arbeit und Rhythmus, Leipzig, 1909) analyzed a long list of working songs and concluded that: 1. Through rhythm they facilitate the synchronous expenditures of energy by individuals engaged in a common task. 2. They spur the worker on through jest, abuse, or reference to the spectators’ opinions. 3. They mention the work, its progress, pleasures, vexations, difficulties and rewards. 4. They inform everyone of the wishes and aspirations of the workers. These slow rhythmic songs are entirely unsuited to the machine age where the machine sets the inelastic rhythm for the worker.