Welcome to the Machine by Pink Floyd.
I Hate Banks by Mojo Nixon
Working for a living, Bachman Turner Overdrive
For working-class laments in Brit post-punk vernacular, you can’t beat XTC:
“Day In Day Out”:
“Clock in my head/Clock on the wall/And the two of them/Don’t agree at all/Friday is heaven/Friday is heaven…” http://chalkhills.org/lyrics/Drums_and_Wires.html#2
“Paper and Iron” – about wage-slavery, 'natch:
http://chalkhills.org/lyrics/Black_Sea.html#7
“Train Running Low on Soul Coal” – about getting used, used up, and finally discarded by one’s employer:
http://chalkhills.org/lyrics/Big_Express.html#10
“Leisure” – a wonderful screed about un- & under-employment:
http://chalkhills.org/lyrics/English_Settlement.html#8
“English Roundabout” – about the miseries of commuting by car, delivered in a bouncy, upbeat 5/4 time:
http://chalkhills.org/lyrics/English_Settlement.html#13
“Earn Enough for Us” –
“…I can take humiliation/And hurtful comments by the boss/I’m just praying by the weekend/I can earn enough for us…”
http://chalkhills.org/lyrics/Skylarking.html#7
“One of the Millions” – about staying in a “safe,” comfy job/lifestyle that’s killing you by degrees:
http://chalkhills.org/lyrics/Oranges_and_Lemons.html#6
For more left-leaning Brit music (sorry, I just love the Brits and my brain is actually organized this way), you could also try Gang of Four, Billy Bragg, The Mekons, The The (Matt Johnson), and Chumbawumba, for starters. The The’s latest album, “NakedSelf,” is terrific stuff, and a lot of it is of a macro/micro-political bent (“GlobalEyes”).
“Taking Care of Business” also by BTO. And a good song to have just before leaving for the day is the main theme from The Great Escape. I sometimes whistle a variation of this on my way out to see if anyone notices; if anyone has they haven’t said anything.
The Kinks’ A Soap Opera has some really great songs for work-inspired ennui. Nine to Five, Rush Hour Blues, and Underneath the Neon Sign are my favorites.
If I find myself playing this album while getting ready to go to work in the morning, I know it’s time to start looking for another job.
Friday I’m In Love by The Cure
Friday On My Mind. I’m pretty sure that it was The Easybeats that did it originally, but I love the David Bowie cover.
May I suggest Take Stuff From Work by King Missle? It’s a short spoken word piece (with an instrumental accompaniment) about gleefully nicking office supplies. “I took a whole desk from the last place I worked. They never noticed and it looks great in my apartment. […] It’s your duty as an oppressed worker to steal from your exploiters.” The songwriter points out the irony that, since he wrote the song at work, the company is paying the songwriter to write about stealing from them.
TMBG’s got a whole bunch of anti-work songs. My favorite is “Hearing Aid” (which appears right before “Minimum Wage” on Flood). Sample line: “No coffee for me, boss / 'Cause I’m not as messed up as I’d like to be…”
Along the same lines is “One Piece at a Time” by Johnny Cash.
Snog-Corporate Slave
The (International) Noise Conspiracy – Um, anything they ever made. I’d say “Bigger Cages, Longer Chains”.
Super Furry Animals - The Man Don’t Give a Fuck
Primal Scream’s “Keep Your Dreams” would be a good choice for a comp closer.
Aargh, this is hard. I know this is supposed to be an easy one, there are millions of anti-corporate songs out there… darn.
Butterfly Wings by Machines of Loving Grace is my suggestion.
I don’t know why, but “Imagine” by Lennon comes to mind.
Shoot, if you got “Good Morning” you’re just a track away from “A Day in the Life.”
Woke up / fell out of bed / dragged a comb across my head / found my way downstairs and drank a cup / looking up I noticed I was late / found my coat grabbed my hat / made the bus in seconds flat / found my way upstairs and had a smoke and somebody spoke and I went into a dream.
Finish the tape with the dreamy “Imagine” and you’ve found the way out!
What? No one’s listed “Frankly Mr. Shankley” by the Smiths?!
“Proud Mary” by Creedence Clearwater Revival starts out:
“Left a good job in the city, working for the man every night and day”.
There’s got to be a few anti-corporate songs in Bruce Springsteens ouvre, as well…
“Working For A Living” and “Couple Days Off” by Huey Lewis and the News
Napalm Death - Multinational Corporations Genocide of the Starving Nations
Metal Church - Date with Poverty
Megadeth - Peace Sells…but Whos Buying ?
…off the top of my head.
Manic Monday – the Bangles:
http://www.davemcnally.com/lyrics/Bangles/ManicMonday.asp
Six o’clock already
I was just in the middle of a dream
I was kissin’ Valentino
By a crystal blue Italian stream
But I can’t be late
'Cause then I guess I just won’t get paid