Payday
Cotton Mather Lyrics

Anna likes her Saturdays left alone
Anna is someone who wants to be alone on Saturdays, away from the distractions of the world

Does her wash unplugs the phone
Anna is so engrossed in doing her laundry that she disconnects her phone, so no-one can disturb her peace.

And Daniel's a descendant of a distant king
Daniel has come from a family which had some royal or noble lineage, but that doesn't mean anything for him in today's world.

Would that that mean anything
This is a rhetorical question, where the artist wants to express that the lineage meant nothing to Daniel or to anyone else.

He's not a man of means
Daniel is not wealthy, despite his lineage or his old family background.

Newspaper that they open wide
The couple opens the newspaper to read the news, and it is spread wide open between them.

Shows them the world tipped on its side
The newspaper makes them realize that the world is going through a phase of confusion and chaos.

Payday
The artist is referring to the day on which people get their wages or salary.

And your moneys all that matters now
On payday, the money that one receives becomes the sole priority and takes precedence over everything else.

You're complaining that you don't know how
The artist is saying that even though people know and acknowledge that they should be happy with their pay, they still complain about it.

You put up with this job
People feel that they have no choice but to continue working at the same job until they can obtain a better one.

And you're bound to leave soon
People feel that it's only a matter of time until they can land a better job and leave their current one.

You're a little bit less than yourself
After getting the paycheck, the singer thinks that people identify themselves through their paygrades.

When you're a payday for somebody else
The singer has a negative connotation wherein people equate themselves to a day where someone else profits from them.

Anna and Daniel got married of course
The opening stanza references a marriage between two people named Anna and Daniel.

Turned to drink and got divorced
Their relationship was deep but fraught with failure, and alcoholism took its toll when they got divorced.

And meanwhile the news from the world got worse
As their relationship worsened, the problems of the world kept mounting outside.

All their daydreams in reverse
The dreams and aspirations of Anna and Daniel faded away, and they got stuck in the mundanity of their days.

At least they still had work
The couple still had jobs, which provided some kind of stability in their lives.

And back at work they still love you
The people in their workspace still like them but because of the boundaries of the workplace, it feels like an interview to the artist.

So why does this still feel like your interview
The artist is questioning why even after working there for such a long period, they still feel a level of unfamiliarity with their work environment.

Its hard to imagine if someone could freeze you here today
The artist is referring to the idea of being frozen in time, with the same pay and position throughout the job as a futile thought.

You'd be remembered this way
The singer is hinting that people may lose themselves in the monotony of their work to such an extent that it might be their only lasting legacy.

They don't have a future but they do have a wage
The artist is indicating that people may not have a future, but they do have jobs that provide them with regular wages.

Cause a jobs not one of those things that gets better with age
The singer believes that jobs do not improve with age, and people need to keep themselves motivated and inspired to keep growing in their jobs.