# Do you have room-cleaning music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568 "2008-04-01T19:29:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/1 "2008-04-01T19:29:13Z")
Right now I’ve got to clean my room. Whenever I do that, I have to have music playing to motivate me. It has to be something upbeat and action-oriented. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are my standby room-cleaning music. Especially their earlier, more punk rock influenced stuff. Anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/2 "2008-04-01T20:16:57Z")
I listen to Rasputina and [Splashdown.](http://www.sadena.com/music/splashdown/) The band encourages internet bootlegging, and all their music is available on the web site I linked to. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/3 "2008-04-01T20:21:25Z")
When I was a very young child, I had a Sesame Street album called “Fun With Bert & Ernie”. One of the songs was called “Put It Away”, where Bert & Ernie sing about cleaning up the room since they’re done playing, and urge the listener to do the same. My mom always played that when she figured it was time for me to clean…and it worked. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/4 "2008-04-01T20:23:05Z")
When I was in high school I cleaned the offices where my mother worked and my two favorite tapes to play while cleaning were Nik Kershaw’s _The Riddle_ and Roger Waters’ _The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking_. The latter still reminds me of mopping for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/5 "2008-04-01T20:26:52Z")
If someone invents music that can clean my room I’ll pay top dollar. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/6 "2008-04-01T20:53:39Z")
“Seasons in the Sun” will clean out a room right quick. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/7 "2008-04-01T20:56:28Z")
[QUOTE=control-z] “Seasons in the Sun” will clean out a room right quick. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but when you do come back in you have to clean up the vomit. ---
**Author:** ![usar\_jag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@usar\_jag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usar_jag)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/8 "2008-04-01T21:04:01Z")
I’m partial to **The Clash** for my housecleaning projects… ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/9 "2008-04-01T21:08:07Z")
I don’t, but my mother used to break out the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack for her cleaning projects. I still start looking for ways to bolt and run when I hear the first song off that album! ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/10 "2008-04-01T21:11:11Z")
What is this “room-cleaning” of which you speak? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![lexan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/73ab20/32.png) [@lexan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/11 "2008-04-01T21:16:59Z")
I usually like to listen to the first three Funkadelic albums when I’m cleaning. Sometimes I listen to some metal instead (usually dense and sludgy stuff like Black Sabbath or Crowbar), and occasionally I go with some old glam rock–in fact, I just finished cleaning the bathroom while listening to Mott the Hoople. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/12 "2008-04-01T21:20:38Z")
When I was in college, I’d play “Radar Love” by Golden Earring at full volume while I cleaned my room. I’d restart the song up to 3 times - after that, I’d quit cleaning and have a beer. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/13 "2008-04-01T21:27:48Z")
I dunno about cleaning, but the best tune to kick-start doing laundry has to be The Pretenders’ [“Watching the Clothes”](http://www.actionext.com/names_p/pretenders_lyrics/watching_the_clothes.html). If you like your music lyrics to be on the nose, there’s The Beatles’ “Penny Lane” with its lyric about the fire fighter who “…Likes to keep his engine clean/It’s a clean machine”. Then again, you might want to reserve that for car-washing. Well, that and “Car Wash,” of course. As for generally upbeat or at least energetic tunes, I like The Specials, early Talking Heads, early Elvis Costello, early XTC (I’m sensing a trend here), Pixies, The B-52’s, Squeeze… ---
**Author:** ![Dilton\_Doiley\_Philosopher\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f1d935/32.png) [@Dilton\_Doiley\_Philosopher\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dilton_Doiley_Philosopher_King)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/14 "2008-04-01T21:42:13Z")
I suggest diet pills and “Yakety Sax”… ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/15 "2008-04-01T22:59:59Z")
Bad Company. …and no, since you asked, I do _not_ dance around and sing into the vacuum handle. Reall, I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/16 "2008-04-01T23:03:23Z")
Reverend Horton Heat, Rancid, Less Than Jake, the Descendents, Operation Ivy, Goldfinger, Ghoultown. Ska and punk and psychobilly are good cleaning music. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/17 "2008-04-01T23:06:48Z")
Ever since I was in college, my room-cleaning tunes of choice were none other than The Stooges’ “Funhouse.” Loud, obnoxious, full of unexplained yelps and groans – that’s room-cleaning in a nutshell. ---
**Author:** ![Pixilated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aeb1de/32.png) [@Pixilated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixilated)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/18 "2008-04-01T23:42:07Z")
Any fast, hard heavy metal… or some Meatloaf ‘bat out of hell’ soundtrack. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/19 "2008-04-01T23:50:49Z")
When I’m in one of my rare manic, kick-ass cleaning modes, I’ll dig out my [Classical Thunder](http://www.amazon.com/Time-Life-Presents-Classical-Thunder/dp/B00081U6XC) CD. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568/20 "2008-04-01T23:50:59Z")
I like to put in older merengue or salsa, something with a really uptempo beat. Usually [Olga Tañón’s _Llévame Contigo_](http://www.amazon.com/Ll%C3%A9vame-Contigo-Olga-Ta%C3%B1%C3%B3n/dp/B000005TMN/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1207093955&sr=8-2) or maybe Celia Cruz. Other times, it’ll be something English and upbeat, like older Madonna. Then other times, it’s energetic J-pop. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-room-cleaning-music/443568.md?page=2)