# great musical rejections of the rat race **URL:** \ **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:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/41 "2009-08-27T19:30:11Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > The Kinks - A Well Respected Man > > I think it takes the cake. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIXVzeB0DUo](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIXVzeB0DUo) I always wondered who sang that song. It was used to great effect in an episode of _Homicide: Life on the Streets_. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/42 "2009-08-27T19:32:51Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Please remember, everybody: don’t quote more than a verse here, and link to an outside Web site if you want to show people all the lyrics to a song. Is this RIAA paranoia? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/43 "2009-08-27T19:34:15Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The first song to come to my mind was Synchronicity II by the Police, with lines such as > > “Daddy only stares into the distance > There’s only so much more that he can take” > > “And every single meeting with his so-called superior > Is a humiliating kick in the crotch” > > “Daddy grips the wheel and stares alone into the distance > He knows that something somewhere has to break” > > and particularly the recurring line about something crawling from the bottom of a dark Scottish lake, which seems to indicate he is about to snap and possibly kill his family. Same here, though it’s this line which sticks in my head: “Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes Contestants in a suicidal race” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/44 "2009-08-27T19:34:40Z")
A more temporary respite: _This lunch break is gonna take all afternoon And half the night Tomorrow morning I know there’ll be hell to pay Hey, but that’s all right I ain’t had a day off now in over a year My Jamaican vacation is gonna start right here If the phones for me You can tell 'em I’ve just sailed away_ -Alan Jackson - “It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere.” ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/45 "2009-08-27T20:34:21Z")
A couple more by The Kinks: Apeman: > [@](#): > > “I don’t want to live in this world no more, > I wanna sail away to a distant shore…” 20th Century Man: > [@](#): > > " I’m a 20th Century man and I don’t want to be here…" ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/46 "2009-08-27T20:35:15Z")
Along those lines (the temporary respite ones), Steve Azar I don’t have to be me til Monday Friday, Saturday, Sunday I ain’t gonna face reality Three days without punchin’ a time clock Three nites of goin non-stop No work and all play I don’t hafta be me til Monday > **[Napster: Music From Every Angle](https://www.napster.com/us)** > > Alongside 110+ million songs, Napster is home to hundreds of thousands of official music videos. Whether you’re streaming on demand or listening offline, enjoy all content ad-free. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/47 "2009-08-28T05:09:48Z")
The Sheryl Crow song mentioned in an earlier post, “All I Wanna Do” was based on a poem written by somebody else. I think it may have resulted in a lawsuit at some point. Another Sheryl Crow song I would add to this thread is “Soak Up the Sun”: I’ve got a crummy job It don’t pay near enough To buy the things it takes To win me some of your love … Don’t have no master suite But I’m still the king of me I’ve been listening to that song an awful lot lately. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/48 "2009-08-28T07:12:00Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Same here, though it’s this line which sticks in my head: > > “Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes > Contestants in a suicidal race” Yeah, that too. I wanted to be mindful of SDMB rules and try not to quote too much of the lyrics. Thanks for bringing that up. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/49 "2009-08-28T11:05:11Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Is this RIAA paranoia? No, it’s just a strict interpretation of respect for copyrights. [See post two of the Cafe Society rules.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=343601) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/50 "2009-08-28T11:13:43Z")
“Do Something Different” by Texas’s own Brave Combo: > [@](#): > > Don’t believe anyone. Don’t read your mail. > Make light of every word you hear. > Turn off your radio, quit your job. > Do something different. > Disappear! [The song begins](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad-m0C1JGj4) about 1:40, after “Jingle Bells.” ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/51 "2009-08-28T11:24:46Z")
[Imperial Zeppelin](http://www.sofasound.com/phcds/fmlyrics.htm#1) by Peter Hammill… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790/52 "2009-08-28T19:18:42Z")
[Party Town](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nRM13ItKMM&feature=related) by Glenn Frey: _I got sick of my job, sick of my wife Sick of my future and sick of my life. I packed up my car and I got some gas. Told everybody they can kiss my ass._ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-musical-rejections-of-the-rat-race/507790.md?page=2)