# great musical rejections of the rat race
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 26, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790 "2009-08-26T17:32:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/1 "2009-08-26T17:32:37Z")
Yeah, I’m sure there are about a million of these. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about songs in which the singer decides that working hard all your life is kind of a dumb idea and that material comforts just aren’t worth the effort. Those great songs that make the adolescent in you want to chuck it all instead of spending your life going to work and paying down a mortgage. (We’ll put aside for now the fact that many of these singers went on to be really rich themselves.)
In “Anthony’s Song”, Billy Joel surveys his neighbors – the mother who moves out to Hackensack, the beat cop who works a second job to buy a Cadillac – and tells them, “good luck movin’ up cause I’m movin’ out.”
Carole King (by way of The Monkees) laments another “Pleasant Valley Sunday / here in status symbol land” and wails, “Creature comfort goals / They only numb my soul and make it hard for me to see / My thoughts all seem to stray, to places far away / I need a change of scenery”.
And from a “dirty old part of the city” where there “ain’t no use in tryin’”, Eric Burdon of The Animals mourns his “daddy in bed a-dyin’” after “workin’ and slavin’ his life away.” He pleads with his doomed girl, “we gotta get out of this place, if it’s the last thing we ever do. Girl there’s a better life for me and you.”
So, what are some of your favorite songs in which the singer looks around at all the getting and spending and laying waste of powers and says, “fuck this shit”?
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### Author:  [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/2 "2009-08-26T17:36:39Z")
John Lennon’s “Watching The Wheels” would be one that seems to fill the bill to me…
(Its also just about my favorite song that he ever wrote)
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### Author:  [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/3 "2009-08-26T18:10:28Z")
There’s a song by George Thorogood called “Get a Haircut and Get a Real Job” that’s pretty cool. It’s about a kid who wants to play Rock ‘n’ Roll for a living. Everyone advises him to be like his hardworking brother Bob until he hits the big time.
“I’m ten times richer than my big brother Bob,
but he’s got a haircut and he’s got a real job.”
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### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/4 "2009-08-26T18:17:21Z")
_Take This Job And Shove It_[I ain’t workin here no more](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_This_Job_and_Shove_It)
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### Author:  [@Transistor\_Rhythm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Transistor_Rhythm)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/5 "2009-08-26T18:36:07Z")
[The Pernice Brothers - “Monkey Suit”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-z68KNO_W0)
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### Author:  [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/6 "2009-08-26T18:51:55Z")
There’s **The Specials** “Rat Race” that comes direct to mind…
“You plan your conversation to impress the college bar
Just talking about your Mother and Daddy’s Jaguar
Wear your political T-shirt and sacred college scarf
Discussing the worlds situation but just for a laugh”
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### Author:  [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/7 "2009-08-26T19:28:39Z")
John Prine - [spanish pipedream](http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/prine-john/spanish-pipedream-10842.html)
Blow up your T.V. throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
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### Author:  [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/8 "2009-08-26T19:39:17Z")
The Kinks have a few, such as “Sitting in the Midday Sun”:
Everybody thinks I’m crazy
And everybody says I’m dumb
But when I see the people shouting at each other
I’d rather be an out of work bum
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/9 "2009-08-26T19:43:31Z")
Bachman-Turner Overdrive-“[_Takin’ Care Of Business_](http://www.lyricsondemand.com/b/bachmanturneroverdrivelyrics/takincareofbusinesslyrics.html)”
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### Author:  [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/10 "2009-08-26T19:44:09Z")
Todd Rundgren- “Bang on the Drum All Day”
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### Author:  [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/11 "2009-08-26T19:54:01Z")
Well for the ones who had a notion yeah the notion deep inside
That it ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive
I wanna find one face that ain’t looking through me
I wanna find one place, I wanna spit in the face of these Badlands.
–Springsteen
along with
“It’s a town full of losers, I’m pulling out of here to win” and
“Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It’s a death trap, it’s a suicide rap
We gotta get out while were young
`cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run”
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### Author:  [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/12 "2009-08-26T20:12:56Z")
[Clampdown](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTQCU2ndzzw) - The Clash:
- The men in the factory are old and cunning
You don’t owe nothing, so boy get running!
It’s the best years of your life they want to steal!
You grow up and you calm down and You’re working for the clampdown.
You start wearing the blue and brown and you’re working for the clampdown.
So you got someone to boss around. It makes you feel big now… \*
[Lost in the Supermarket](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA8LWKiOTGI) - The Clash
[Working in a Coalmine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj6coeRO5J4&feature=related) - Devo
[Frankly, Mr. Shankly](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9l_zAypP7Q) - The Smiths (This one is hilarious)
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/13 "2009-08-26T20:31:11Z")
> [@cjepson](#):
>
> The Kinks have a few, such as “Sitting in the Midday Sun”:
>
> Everybody thinks I’m crazy
> And everybody says I’m dumb
> But when I see the people shouting at each other
> I’d rather be an out of work bum
You took my answer. “Sitting in the Midday Sun” is probably the best example, but “Apeman” also qualifies.
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### Author:  [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/14 "2009-08-26T21:13:03Z")
The guy from CCR left a good job in the city, workin’ for the man every night and day, because people on the river are happy to give. Sure they are. And the Five Man Electrical Band took off their collective hat and said, “Imagine that–me workin’ for you!”
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/15 "2009-08-26T21:14:11Z")
Fast Lane - the Eagles.
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### Author:  [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/16 "2009-08-26T21:26:49Z")
A huge percentage of Jimmy Buffet’s catalog is this in spades. _Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude_ to pick one off the top of my head.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/17 "2009-08-26T21:35:51Z")
“First I was a Hippie, Then I was a Stockbroker, Now I am a Hippie Again”, by The Bobs.
“Money for Nothing,” by Dire Straits is about someone who wishes he could throw it all over.
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### Author:  [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/18 "2009-08-26T21:48:18Z")
_Do You Want My Job?_ - Ry Cooder
_Rat Race_ - Bob Marley
_Rat Trap_ - The Boomtown Rats
And maybe not so great a rejection, but a comment on the rat race nonetheless:
_Frivolous Tonight_ - XTC
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### Author:  [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)
#### Post date: [August 26, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/19 "2009-08-26T22:03:40Z")
[del]These might be more about overall existentialist ennui, but I guess in some way they can be related to the rat race:[/del]
Actually, on reflection, I think the following songs represent more of a surrender to than a rejection of the rat race…
\*Lennon’s [Working Class Hero](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njG7p6CSbCU)
\*Nine Inch Nail’s [Every Day is Exactly the Same](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5NIQQX_7vY)
\*Tracy Chapman’s [Fast Car](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Orv_F2HV4gk)
\*Tear for Fears/Gary Jules’s [Mad World](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N3N1MlvVc4)
\*Tom Petty’s [Mary Jane’s Last Dance](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdTYcnUBADw)
\*Billy Joel’s [Piano Man](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCyKcwvV5gE)
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### Author:  [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/20 "2009-08-27T02:17:00Z")
> [@Ludovic](#):
>
> Fast Lane - the Eagles.
I always hear this as more of a tale of drug use – “lines on the mirror” and “call the doctor / I think I’m gonna crash” – more than of the humdrum, workaday world. But, it is true that “They went rushin’ down that freeway, / messed around and got lost / They didn’t care they were just dyin’ to get off” which seems like they’re trying to get out of whatever dead-end life they’ve gotten themselves into.
All good examples, everyone. Thanks for the links. I don’t think I’d ever heard “Working Class Hero” in its entirety before.
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