"Roll Up Your Sleeves" is a song recorded by Australian singer Meg Mac for her extended play, MegMac. The song was released for digital download on 1 July 2014. "Roll Up Your Sleeves" gave Mac her first ARIA Charts entry, peaking at number 80. The song was voted in at number 24 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 2014.
In an interview with Rolling Stone Australia, Mac described the song saying; “I feel like I wrote this song from myself to myself as some sort of reminder. Doing the right thing is hard and sometimes it is way easier to pretend you don't give a shit. Deep down I think we all give a shit and that everything has to be alright if you want it to be. I do really believe that.”
Meg also said it is the quickest song she has ever written.
The song placed second in the 2014 Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition.
Reviews The track has been described as “a dark soul ballad enriched by a warm, breathy refrain, the piano-led single stands in radiant contrast to the grit of powerhouse stomper, “Every Lie””
In a review on Triple J, it was described as “punchy and empowering".
Nastassia Baroni of Music Feeds said; “This new single follows up tracks "Known Better" and "Every Lie" and it's laced with as much bluesy soul as its predecessors. Led by a simple driving piano, [Mac's] powerful and soaring vocals demand all the attention.”
Zara Golden from The Fader described the song as “a folky, infectious just-do-you anthem.”
Music video The black and white music video for “Roll Up Your Sleeves” was directed by Tobias Andersson and released on 14 July 2014.
Charts +Weekly chart performance for "Roll Up Your Sleeves " Chart (2014) Peakposition Australia (ARIA) 80 Australian Independent Chart (AIR) 3
Certifications
Covers Urthboy (featuring Hermitude, All Our Exes Live in Texas, Tom Thum and Kira Puru) covered the song in December 2015 as part of Triple J’s ‘Like a Version’.
References