# Songs which defined the recession of 2008-13 to you

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-defined-the-recession-of-2008-13-to-you/748240
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 7, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-defined-the-recession-of-2008-13-to-you/748240 "2016-03-07T22:00:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-defined-the-recession-of-2008-13-to-you/748240/1 "2016-03-07T22:00:49Z")

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Mine is Kid Cudis Pursuit of happiness

> [@](#):
>
> People told me slow my roll I’m screaming out fuck that  
> Imma do just what I want lookin’ ahead no turnin’ back

Anyone else have a specific song which stands out for them?

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### Author: ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2016, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-defined-the-recession-of-2008-13-to-you/748240/2 "2016-03-07T22:16:40Z")

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:dubious: Not sure I connected my music listening habits to the recession.

I’ll go with [Thrift Shop](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK8mJJJvaes). :shrug:

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### Author: ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-defined-the-recession-of-2008-13-to-you/748240/3 "2016-03-08T03:44:03Z")

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One that does it for me is Gotye’s _Somebody You Used to Know_. I went through a layoff during the recession, after enduring a job that was sucking more and more, and the layoff was sort of a blessing. The line “But I’ll admit that I was glad that it was over” resonates for me, not about a lover, but about a lost job.

On the flip side, my rebound song was Katy Perry’s _Firework_: “Maybe a reason why all the doors are closed, So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road” My old dead-end job was gone, but I found a great job teaching at a community college, which reinvigorated my outlook on life.

I think the OP has an interesting topic here.

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### Author: ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2016, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-defined-the-recession-of-2008-13-to-you/748240/4 "2016-03-08T05:32:47Z")

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Bruce Springsteen - Jack of All Trades

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### Author: ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2016, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-defined-the-recession-of-2008-13-to-you/748240/5 "2016-03-08T07:57:54Z")

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To address Wall Street’s part in this (the song’s actually pre-2008…sue me) I’d go with “Greed” off AxCx’s “Picnic of Love” album.

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### Author: ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2016, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-which-defined-the-recession-of-2008-13-to-you/748240/6 "2016-03-08T12:40:22Z")

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It didn’t affect our family at all, so I barely registered it much less associated any songs with it.