I just recently turned in my two weeks notice. I’ve got one more week left and in need “Job Quitting” soundtrack. Here is what I have so far:
Take this job and shove it - Johnny Paycheck
You’re not the boss of me now (malcom in the middle)- They might be giants
Killing in the name of - Rage against the machine
Damn it feels good to be a gangster - (office space) Gheto Boys
Help me by sugesting some of your own favorite “Songs to quit your job by”
Routine day - Klaatu
The worker - Fischer Z
Ya just slip out the back, Jack.
Make a new plan, Stan.
You don’t need to be coy, Roy.
Just listen to me.
Ya just hop on the bus, Gus.
You don’t need to discuss much.
Just drop off the key, Lee.
And set yourself free.
Nah nah,
Nah na nah na
Hey hey hey
Good bye
By Steam
There’s gotta be something better than this!
There’s gotta be something better to do!
And when I find me something better to do—
I’m gonna get up—get out—and do it!
Beyond the blue horizon
Waits a beautiful day.
Goodbye to things that bore me,
Joy is waiting for me!
I see a new horizon—
My life has only begun!
Beyond the blue horizon lies a rising sun.
—and—
Pack up all my care and woe
Here I go, singing low—
Bye bye blackbird.
Where somebody waits for me
Sugar’s sweet, so is she—
Bye bye blackbird.
No one here can love or understand me
Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me.
Make my bed and light the light
I’ll arrive late tonight—
Blackbird, bye bye!
“I don’t want to work. I just want to bang on the drum all day. . .”
~Todd Rungren
“Frankly Mr. Shankly” - The Smiths
sample lyric:
Frankly, Mr. Shankly, this position I’ve held
It pays my way but it corrodes my soul
I want to leave
You will not miss me
I want to go down in musical history
“Big City Turn Me Loose” - Merle Haggard
(I’m partial to the cover by Iris Diment.)
sample lyric:
Turn me loose set me free
Somewhere in the middle of Montana
And give me all I’ve got
coming to me
And keep your Retirement and your
so-called “Social Security”
Big city turn me loose and set me free
I get up at seven, yeah,
And I go to work at nine.
I got no time for livin’,
Yes, I’m workin’ all the time.
“Working Man” - Rush
A friend of mine used to work for K-Mart. On his last day, his car broke down, and I had to go and pick him up from work. As he walked out the door, I cranked up the CD player with the “Award Ceremony” them from Star Wars.
Maggie’s Farm by Bob Dylan
I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more…
Wow, it is amazing how many good songs are about not working (well maybe it’s not that amzing). I’m starting to get quite a list. Maybe I should make an album and sell it via cheesy infomercial.
Slave to the Wage by Placebo.
“Sick and tired of Maggie’s farm
She’s a bitch with broken arms”
I Wanna Destroy You, by The Soft Boys:
A pox upon the media and everything you read
They tell you your opinions and they’re very good indeed
I wanna destroy you
I wanna destroy you
And when I have destroyed you, I’ll come picking at your bones
And you won’t have a single atom left to call your own
Free Girl Now, by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers:
I remember when he was your boss
I remember him touching your butt
I remember you counting your blessings
Yeah honey, you had to keep your mouth shut
Hey baby, you’re a free girl now
Yeah baby, you’re a free girl now
Minimum Wage, by They Might Be Giants:
Minimum waaaaage! Hyah!
(Those are the lyrics in their entirety. Hope that’s OK in this instance.)
Taking Care of Business, by Bachman Turner Overdrive:
They get up every morning from their long clocks’ warning
Take the eight fifteen into the city
There’s a whistle up above and people push and people shoving
and the girls who’re trying to look pretty
and if your train’s on time you can get to work by nine
and start to sleep and talk to get your pay
If you ever get annoyed look at me I’m self-employed
I love to work at nothing all day
The Job That Ate My Brain by the Ramones.
I can’t take this crazy pace.
I’ve become a mental case.
Yeah, this is the job that ate my brain.
“Beat It” Michael Jackson
Upon leaving the parking lot after my last day at my last “real job,” and being a good little Billy Joel fan, I had “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” all ready to crank in the CD player.
Ding, dong, the witch is dead from the Wizard of Oz.
It’s not a song, but I’ve been giving serious consideration to standing in the plaza outside my office when I walk out of the buiding for the last time and shouting, “Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last!”
Dropping my pants and mooning the building, however, is running a close second.