great musical rejections of the rat race

I always wondered who sang that song. It was used to great effect in an episode of Homicide: Life on the Streets.

Is this RIAA paranoia?

Same here, though it’s this line which sticks in my head:

“Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes
Contestants in a suicidal race”

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.”

A couple more by The Kinks:

Apeman:

20th Century Man:

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

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.

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.

No, it’s just a strict interpretation of respect for copyrights. See post two of the Cafe Society rules.

“Do Something Different” by Texas’s own Brave Combo:

The song begins about 1:40, after “Jingle Bells.”

Imperial Zeppelin by Peter Hammill…

Party Town 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.