"9 to 5" is the title of a popular song written by British songwriter Florrie Palmer and recorded by Sheena Easton in 1980, becoming her biggest hit. It peaked at number three in the United Kingdom in August 1980 and was certified gold. It was released in the United States and Canada under the title "Morning Train in February 1981. 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". 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 second female artist 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 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 " to avoid confusion with the Dolly Partonsong of the same name, which charted nearly simultaneously with Easton's record. Easton's song went to #1 on both the U.S. pop 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 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
Chart
Peak position
Japan
98
Year-end charts
Chart
Rank
Australia
7
Canada
14
New Zealand
12
U.S. Billboard
12
U.S. Cash Box
24
Other versions
Easton re-recorded the song for her Spanish-language albumTodo Me Recuerda a Tí, in 1983 for the Latin markets. Swedish-born Norwegian singer Elisabeth Andreassencovered the song in Swedish, as "Han pendlar varje dag" with the new lyrics by :sv:Olle Bergman|Olle Bergman, 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", with lyrics entirely unrelated to the Easton original. Idols South Africa winner Anke Pietrangeli covered the song on her album Tribute to the Great Female Vocalists in 2009.
It was revealed in the documentary John Peel's Record Box that British radio DJ John Peel loved the record so much that he kept two copies of it in a small wooden box of his 142 favourite singles. The song was featured twice in the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. It first appeared in a scene from the season 8 episode "The Bizarro Jerry"', in a montage of Kramer's "work" experience. Its second appearance was in the season 9 episode "The Butter Shave", where George Costanza pretends to be handicapped at work.
