Ten best songs about quitting your job

Categories: Lists

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"Oh, I can absolutely work Saturday. I didn't have any plans anyway."
​The job market's still very tough, your 401 (k) has probably lost its value over the last week, and your rent, car payment and baby mama aren't going to get paid on their own. You hate your job, your boss treats you like garbage, and bygod, you deserve better. Repercussions be damned, it's time to quit. To kick-start a new chapter in your life, here are ten songs about working -- but more importantly, how you plan to quit working, if only temporarily.

10. "Take This Job and Shove It" - Dead Kennedys

This 1986 cover of the mid '70s David Allen Coe song sums up the things that we've all wanted to say to the Man at one point or another. For sake of classiness, though, we've kept those sentiments locked away tightly inside, likely forming an ulcer that will shave years off your life. Also listen to the Johnny Paycheck version of the song, by far the most popular version, which hit number one on the country charts. The Dead Kennedys version, however, seems to have a double-dose of rage that gives the song a different meaning.

9. "Shove This Jay Oh Bee" - Cannibus and Biz Markie

Famously included on the Office Space soundtrack, this song comes in at only the nine spot because the hook by Biz Markie is just a recast version of the the "Take This Job and Shove It" chorus. The verse by Cannibus, however, offers a few kernels a truth that we can chew on, in addition to providing some plot points from the film: "Your coworkers talking to loud to ignore them/It affects your occupational performance." This is a silly song, though, right down to the "Umm... Yeah." samples from the Lumbergh character.

8. "Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous" - Big L

"My moms told me to get a job, fuck that/A'yo, picture me gettin a job/Takin orders from Bob, sellin corn on the cob/Yo, how the hell I'ma make ends meet/Makin' about 120 dollars a week?" In a stanza, the late Big L sums up why working sucks. Enough said.

7. "Customers Fuck Off" - Acid Reflux

The infectious chorus of "I don't wanna go to work today" on this thrashing song by recently broken-up Albany, New York punk band Acid Reflux is likely the song you'll be singing as you trudge your way across the parking lot or garage, or while you wait for the bus, to take you to a job that makes you want to walk in traffic.

6. "Lost My Job" - Alex Chilton

Speaking from personal experience spent in the blues bars of St. Louis, there's no better way to spend the hours and even days after you lose your job listening to blues and getting drunk. And as the late Alex Chilton (of Alex Chilton and the Box Tops, here) points out, the jobless get to sleep in after they stay out all night long. "Lost my job/Guess I gotta go steal and rob," he laments. Fair enough.

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