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.