"9 to 5" (or "Morning Train") is a popular song written by British songwriter Florrie Palmer and recorded by Scottish singer Sheena Easton in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, becoming her biggest hit. It peaked at number three in the United Kingdom in August 1980 and was certified gold. In February 1981, it was released in the United States and Canada under the title "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" to avoid confusion with Dolly Parton's recent hit "

9 to 5 Working(laboring) time is the period of time that a person spends at paid Wage labour, labor. Unpaid work, Unpaid labor such as personal housework or caring for children or pets is not considered part of the working week. Many countries regula ...

". It reached number one in both countries, becoming Easton's only chart-topper in those nations. Easton had released one single prior to "9 to 5": "

Modern Girl (also shortened to ) were Japanese women who followed Westernized fashions and lifestyles in the period after World War I. were Japan's equivalent of America's flappers, Germany's , France's , or China's (). By viewing through a Japanese ve ...

". This had failed to chart highly, but after exposure on the BBC documentary, ''The Big Time: Pop Singer'', both "9 to 5" and "Modern Girl" were propelled into the top ten at the same time, making her the third female artist (after

Ruby Murray Ruby Florence Murray (29 March 1935 – 17 December 1996) was a Northern Irish singer. One of the most popular singers in the British Isles in the 1950s, she scored ten hits in the UK Singles Chart between 1954 and 1959. She also made pop chart ...

and

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Best known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the theme songs to three James Bond films, Bassey is widely regarded as one of the most popular vocalists ...

) to achieve this feat. "9 to 5" became a top three hit and was one of the best-selling singles of the year. Early in 1981,

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

decided to launch Easton in the US and released "9 to 5" as her debut single. The title of the song was changed to "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" to avoid confusion with the Dolly Parton song of the same name, which charted nearly simultaneously with Easton's record. Easton's song went to #1 on both the U.S.

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

and adult contemporary charts; it remained at the top for two weeks on ''Billboards pop chart. On ''Billboard'' 1981 year-end charts, it came in as the twelfth-biggest pop and thirteenth-biggest AC hit of the year 1981. It also topped the ''RPM'' magazine pop and AC charts in Canada, reigning over the former for two weeks in May 1981, while also reaching the summit in New Zealand, before being replaced by Joy Division's " Love Will Tear Us Apart". The song is about a woman who waits at home all day for her man to come home from work. The music video was filmed on the Bluebell Railway, a

heritage line A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

running between East and West Sussex in England. The video stars London and South Western Railway No. 488, a preserved LSWR 0415 Class locomotive.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

Easton re-recorded the song ("El Primer Tren") for her Spanish-language album ''Todo Me Recuerda a Tí'', in 1983 for the Latin markets. Swedish-born Norwegian singer Elisabeth Andreassen

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

the song in Swedish, as "Han pendlar varje dag" ("He commutes every day") with the new lyrics by

Olle Bergman Olov (or Olof) is a Swedish form of Olav/Olaf, meaning "ancestor's descendant". A common short form of the name is ''Olle''. The name may refer to: * Per-Olov Ahrén (1926–2004), Swedish clergyman, bishop of Lund from 1980 to 1992 *Per-Olov Br ...

, on her 1981 album '' Angel of the Morning''. This version also stayed at Svensktoppen for 9 weeks during the period 21 February-18 April 1982, with a chart peak of #4. Also in 1981, the Bulgarian-French singer Sylvie Vartan recorded a French cover of the song entitled "L'amour, c'est comme une cigarette" ("Love is like a cigarette"), with lyrics entirely unrelated to the Easton original. In 1981, the Czech singer Helena Vondráčková recorded a cover called "Nač vlastně v půli vzdávat mač" ("Why actually give up a match in the middle?"). The Czech text was written by Zdeněk Borovec.

Idols South Africa ''Idols'' is a television show on the South African television network Mzansi Magic, and previously on M-Net, based on the popular British show ''Pop Idol''. The show is a contest to determine the best young singer in South Africa. The general ...

winner

Anke Pietrangeli Anke Pietrangeli (born 16 November 1982) is a South African singer. She was the winner of the second season of popular talent search series '' Idols'' in South Africa in 2003. Like her predecessor, Heinz Winckler, Anke also had a nickname: The K ...

covered the song on her album ''Tribute to the Great Female Vocalists'' in 2009.

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...

recorded a cover with different lyrics on her 2021 album, '' Daddy's Home'', titled ''My Baby Wants a Baby''. The album release credits Annie Clark and Florrie Palmer for writing.

In popular culture

It was revealed in the documentary ''

John Peel's Record Box ''John Peel's Record Box'' is a documentary film made by Elaine Shepherd, released on 14 November 2005 on Channel 4. It was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award. __TOC__ Contents The box contains a small private collection of the British radio ...

'' that British radio DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

loved the record so much that he kept two copies of it in a small wooden box of his 142 favourite singles. It was referenced in a '' Not the Nine O'Clock News'' sketch, with Pamela Stephenson playing a housewife who sings the song while cleaning the house. Her husband, played by

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and ''Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–201 ...

returns home, and corrects the wording, beginning by pointing out that he travels to work by bus, not by train, to which Stephenson sings the lines again incorporating the corrected statements. The song was featured twice in the NBC sitcom ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

''. It first appeared in a scene from the season 8 episode "

The Bizarro Jerry "The Bizarro Jerry" is the 137th episode of the American television sitcom ''Seinfeld''. This was the third episode of the eighth season, originally airing on the NBC network on October 3, 1996. The title and plot extensively reference Bizarro Sup ...

"', in a montage of Kramer's "work" experience. Its second appearance was in the season 9 episode "

The Butter Shave "The Butter Shave" is the 157th episode of the NBC sitcom '' Seinfeld''. It is also the first episode of the ninth and final season. It aired on September 25, 1997. In this episode, George gets a new job and preferential treatment due to his co-wor ...

", where George Costanza pretends to be handicapped at work. In 2001, it was featured in the ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

'' season 5 episode 13, "

Kenny Dies "Kenny Dies" is the thirteenth and penultimate episode of the fifth season of the animated television series '' South Park'', and the 78th episode of the series overall. "Kenny Dies" originally aired in the United States on December 5, 2001 on Com ...

". The song features in the 2004 movie '' EuroTrip'': the character of Scotty is forced to sing it in a Manchester United backer's bar. The beginning of the song is sung by one of the characters in the NBC series '' Will & Grace'' in season 8, episode 16, “Grace Expectations”. The song’s melody is interpolated heavily in ‘My Baby Wants A Baby’, on

's sixth studio album, '' Daddy’s Home'', and Florrie Palmer is credited as a co-writer. The song is featured in the NBC series '' Good Girls'' in season 3, episode 4, "The Eye in Survivor".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:9 To 5 (Sheena Easton Song) 1980 singles 1981 singles Sheena Easton songs Elisabeth Andreassen songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in New Zealand RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Christopher Neil Songs about trains 1980 songs EMI Records singles