Oney
Oney may refer to:
See also
Oney (song)
"Oney" is a song recorded by American country music artist Johnny Cash. It was released in July 1972 as the second single from his album Any Old Wind That Blows. The song peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It also reached number 1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada. The song was written by Jerry Chesnut.
The song is one of several by Cash paying tribute to the working man. This first-person story is about a factory worker who plans to get retribution against his mean boss. In the song's spoken prologue, Cash dedicates the song "to the working man/for every man that puts in a hard eight or 10 hours a day of work and toil and sweat/always got somebody looking down his neck/trying to get more out of him than he really ought to have to put in."
The story of "Oney"
The story picks up on a factory worker's retirement day, where he laments about his years of long hours, exhausting, backbreaking and thankless work, and frustration in dealing with a micromanaging boss, Oney. The song's title character, Oney is a strict boss who demands promptness and sternly reprimands workers for the slightest of infractions, such as showing up five minutes late for work. During the worker's final day, his immediate supervisor (presumably one of Oney's lackeys) drops by, reminding the protagonist that it was Oney who made him and, without his help, would have not succeeded, all while the worker continues to lament about seeing Oney in his sleep.
Podcasts:
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by Johnny Cash
Oney
by: Johnny CashI dedicate this song to the workin' man
For ever' man that puts in a hard
Eight or ten hours a day of work and toil and sweat
Always got somebody lookin' down his neck
Tryin' to get more out of 'im
Than he really ought to have to put in.
After twenty-nine long years of workin'
In this shop with Oney standin' over me ...
Today when that old whistle blows
I'll check in all my gear and I'll retire ...
The superintendent just dropped by and said
They'd planned my little get together ...
Then he said I'd never a made it
If old Oney hadn't held me to the fire.
I've seen him in my dreams at night
And woke up in the mornin' feelin' tired ...
And old Oney don't remember, when I came here
How he tried to get me fired ...
With his folded hands behind him
Every mornin' Oney waited at the gate ...
Where he'd rant and rave like I committed murder
Clockin' in five minutes late.
But today they'll gather 'round me
Like I've seen 'em do when any man retires
Then old Oney's gonna tell me
From now on I'm free to do what I desire ...
He'll present me with that little old gold watch
They give a man at times like this ...
But there's one thing he's not countin' on
Today's the day I give old Oney his.
I've been workin', buildin' muscles
Oney's just been standin' 'round a gettin' soft
And today about four-thirty
I'll make up for every good night's sleep I've lost ...
When I'm gone I'll be remembered
As the workin' man who put his point across
With a right hand full of knuckles
'Cause today I show old Oney who's the boss.
Hmmmm! What time is it? Four thirty!
Hey, Oney!
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