My Collar's Blue But My Neck Is Red / "Blue Collar Anthem" by J. Johnson

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About

My Collar's Blue But My Neck Is Red are the lyrics of a song called the "Blue Collar Anthem" by J. Johnson, which went viral in September 2025 when it was used as the audio for the Blue Collar SpongeBob meme, showing AI-generated images of SpongeBob SquarePants as a blue-collar worker paired with unserious captions that parodied hard labor.

The song's lyrics continue, "I been workin' like a dog to keep my family fed. / Living off energy drinks, Marlboro Reds / Swear this gas station food is gonna cause my death." J. Johnson originally shared a video of him singing the song in an orange sweatshirt and blue jeans on his TikTok account @redriverredneck1993 in January 2025. He released the full track on YouTube soon after. In September 2025, a TikTok account called @oli.outdoor shared a short visual video for the song's hook, ultimately resulting in the Blue Collar SpongeBob meme. In the following weeks, the song amassed new usage and received viral remixes.

Origin

On January 4th, 2025, TikToker^[1] J. Johnson (@redriverredneck1993) shared a video of himself singing an original song, starting with the lyrics, "My collar's blue but my neck is red." He's seen in an orange sweatshirt and blue jeans with strapped knee pads. Over nine months, the video received roughly 304,000 likes.

On January 18th, the J. Johnson "Topic" channel on YouTube^[2] shared the full-length song, titled "Blue Collar Anthem," seemingly based on the top comment left on the original TikTok^[1] video. Over nine months, the video received roughly 185,900 views.

Lyrics

Users on the lyrics website Genius^[9] added the song's lyrics to the site in 2025.

My collar's blue but my neck is red
I beena workin' like a dog to keep my family fed
Living off energy drinks, Marlboro Reds
Swear this gas station food is gonna cause my death
Well I voted Trump, I'm talking FJB
Yeah I stand up for the folks like me
If I told you once I won't tell you twice
I'll protect my family with my life
Hell, I was born a Ramblin' man
Wel,l I guess I finally settled down
Found a pretty little lady that smiles at me
Well, I was her white knight swept her off her feet
My money's low but gas is high
Yeah, I've been doing my best just to get by
My jeans are stained my boots are warm
Just to try and let him be a good ol' boy
My collar's blue but my neck is red
My back is broke but my family fed
Hell, times are tough, we'll make due
There's still people out here that are trying to
Working paycheck to paycheck for the weekend
Just to drink cold beer with my rowdy friends
From the Bible Belt they're called a sin
Imagine I live like this until my end
'Cause my collar's blue but my neck is red
My back is broke but my family fed
Hell, times are tough we'll make due
There's still people out here that are trying to
'Cause my collar's blue my neck is red
Abusing alcohol just to ease the stress
We say we're fine no we won't complain
We'll carry these burdens to our graves
We'll carry these burdens to our graves

Spread

On September 17th, 2025, TikToker^[3] @oli.outdoor shared a short visual for the song's opening lyrics, showing blue-collar workers working. Over two weeks, the video received over 86,500 likes.

On September 24th, TikToker^[4] @realxphantomx used the abovementioned video's TikTok sound^[5] for a video meme, showing a slideshow of AI-generated images of the animated character SpongeBob SquarePants as a blue-collar worker. The video's text overlay caption read, "MFs will get their first job at McDonald's and will GENUINELY look at you like this when you ask if they can get on the game." It received over 302,800 likes in a week.

A series of Blue Collar SpongeBob memes using the song surfaced in the following days, whereby on October 1st, 2025, the song's primary TikTok sound^[5] had amassed over 19,700 posts.

On September 27th, TikToker^[6] @zakkery983 shared a video from the backseat of a pick-up truck, in which the "Blue Collar Anthem" was playing on the stereo. The video had a text overlay POV caption, reading, "POV: First week as an electrician (genuinely)." The video received over 607,600 likes in four days.

On September 27th, 2025, TikToker^[7] @freakyfemboyfurryphonks shared a phonk remix of the "Blue Collar Anthem," showing Phonk Trollge version of Blue Collar SpongeBob in the video. It received over 119,800 likes in four days.

On September 29th, 2025, TikToker^[8] @downedoppz used the phonk remix of the song as a TikTok sound for a video edit meme that read in an Impact font top caption, "YOUR FOOD IS POISONED." Over two days, the post amassed over 48,800 likes in two days.