Men at Work / Cargo / 1983
I Like To
wry, deadpan, mildly restless
A catalogue of small, idle domestic pleasures delivered in a deadpan deadpan list format, the song turns trivial sensory habits into a kind of private ritual. It builds almost entirely through repetition and accumulation rather than narrative, with a recurring question to an unnamed other breaking up the self-focused inventory.
domestic routine solitude vs connection sensory pleasure in the mundane detachment playful minimalism
Who's speaking
A first-person narrator addresses an unspecified 'you', reciting personal quirks and then turning to ask what the other person enjoys; the voice is flat and undemonstrative, neither confessional nor ironic in an obvious way, which makes its sincerity hard to pin down.
What happens
There isn't a conventional story arc; instead the song moves through a sequence of unconnected habitual actions -- bathroom, reading, television, food -- loosely grouped by domestic setting, interrupted twice by a direct question to someone else about their own preferences. The lack of resolution or escalation is itself the point: the song ends where it began, still listing, still asking.
How it's built
The song is built on short, declarative verse lines using a fixed sentence template, broken by a brief bridge-like refrain that shifts from statement to question. This refrain acts as the only structural variation, repeated twice to frame two blocks of verse material. There's no bridge that develops or complicates the content; the form is essentially cyclical.
Section by section
Opening verse
“watch the water flow down the drain”
The first image sets the tone: a fixation on a small, passive, slightly pointless visual pleasure. The attention paid to something this minor signals that the song's subject is going to be the texture of idle habit rather than any dramatic event.
Second verse, books
The detail about looking at pictures while skipping the text suggests a preference for surface and sensation over meaning or effort, extending the theme of enjoying process rather than purpose.
Refrain
“what would you like to do”
The question breaks the self-contained recitation and gestures toward another person, but it's asked almost formulaically, mirroring the earlier habitual phrasing rather than suggesting real curiosity or vulnerability. It raises the possibility of connection without resolving whether it's genuine or just another repeated gesture.
Third verse, television and food
Muting the television while still watching it, and loading a sandwich with every topping available, continue the pattern of sensory indulgence combined with a kind of controlled or solitary enjoyment -- pleasure taken on one's own terms, often at odds with conventional use of the object or ritual.
Closing refrain
Ending on the same question without development reinforces the cyclical, non-narrative structure; the song refuses closure, leaving the relationship between narrator and addressee as open and unresolved as the list of habits itself.
Craft
- anaphora
- The repeated opening phrase across nearly every line creates a listing rhythm that mimics habit and ritual, reinforcing the idea of behavior as compulsive rather than chosen.
- catalogue/list structure
- Instead of plot or metaphor, the song relies on an inventory of unrelated small actions, which flattens hierarchy between the trivial and the significant and invites the listener to find meaning in accumulation rather than in any single image.
- deadpan juxtaposition
- Quietly odd details -- watching water drain, ignoring the text in a book, muting the television -- sit next to ordinary ones like eating a sandwich, producing a dry comic effect through tonal flatness rather than punchlines.
- direct address as structural pivot
- The shift from first-person listing to a question aimed at 'you' briefly opens the closed loop of self-description, suggesting an attempt at connection that the song never develops further.
Reading it
The most straightforward reading treats the song as a light, almost novelty-style portrait of idiosyncratic personal habits, enjoyable largely for its rhythmic repetition and deadpan humor rather than for deep thematic weight. A slightly more generous reading hears in the list a portrait of someone comfortable in solitary, small pleasures who is nonetheless reaching -- tentatively, almost shyly -- toward someone else through the recurring question, making the song a quiet statement about how intimacy can begin with trading trivial preferences rather than grand declarations. Both readings are plausible since the lyric offers little interiority beyond the habits themselves.
Context
Men at Work were, at this point, riding global success from their earlier singles, and much of their catalogue favors wry, conversational lyrics with a light comic touch. I don't have reliable information on the specific writing or recording circumstances of this particular track, and it is one of the less prominent songs on the Cargo album, so my confidence about authorial intent is limited.
Listen for
- the steady, almost nursery-rhyme repetition of the central phrase and how it shapes the song's rhythm
- the tonal shift when the question to 'you' interrupts the list
- the deliberately mundane, slightly absurd specificity of the chosen details
- whether the music underscores or undercuts the deadpan quality of the lyric
- the lack of any musical or lyrical climax, consistent with the song's cyclical structure
About Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1979. They were best known for breakthrough hits such as "Down Under", "Who Can It Be Now?", "Be Good Johnny", "Overkill", "It's a Mistake" and "High Wire".
1979 - 1985 / Australia
Full biography and catalogue