this is life, and everythings alright
March 15, 2012 12:26 PM   Subscribe

PlaylistFilter: Songs about the mundanity of every day life please.

Any genre, though I am not too much of a country music fan.
posted by holdkris99 to Media & Arts (59 answers total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
Step Into My Office, Baby by Belle and Sebastian

The Ballad of the Decomposing Man by Steve Hackett
posted by jbickers at 12:30 PM on March 15, 2012


You were meant for me by Jewel.
posted by procrastination at 12:32 PM on March 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


Paul and Storm - The Ballad of Rufus Amos Adams
posted by Captain_Science at 12:33 PM on March 15, 2012


In this Town, by the Eurythmics (1986).
posted by Dragonness at 12:35 PM on March 15, 2012


One Great City! by The Weakerthans.
posted by Dorinda at 12:37 PM on March 15, 2012


Manic Monday!
posted by something something at 12:38 PM on March 15, 2012 [3 favorites]


Jonathan Coulton - ShopVac
posted by Mchelly at 12:39 PM on March 15, 2012


Eddie From Ohio - Monotony
posted by bondcliff at 12:41 PM on March 15, 2012


Warren Zevon, the Factory
Stan Ridgeway, Salesman
Squeeze, Up the Junction

I think that you'll find other songs by the same artists that are about everyday life, but these seem most representative.
posted by adamrice at 12:42 PM on March 15, 2012


Wally Pleasant - Stupid Day Job
posted by Paragon at 12:51 PM on March 15, 2012


Another Day, Paul McCartney.
Whatever the song is in this video.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:53 PM on March 15, 2012


Daysleeper, REM.
posted by hermitosis at 12:55 PM on March 15, 2012


Ben Folds: Fred Jones part II.
posted by hermitosis at 12:59 PM on March 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


Bright Future in Sales by Fountains of Wayne. I think they have several songs that would fit this idea. Hey Julie works too.
posted by brilliantine at 1:03 PM on March 15, 2012


Barenaked Ladies: Pinch Me.
posted by tommasz at 1:07 PM on March 15, 2012


The Verve, Bittersweet Symphony
posted by OsoMeaty at 1:11 PM on March 15, 2012


Going Through the Motions, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Once More With Feeling"
posted by missrachael at 1:14 PM on March 15, 2012


A Wilhelm Scream - The Soft Sell
posted by General Malaise at 1:17 PM on March 15, 2012


Oh jesus, I can't believe I forgot about Longview.
posted by General Malaise at 1:18 PM on March 15, 2012


Note: all these songs except the first are odes to the mundanity.

Ants Marching by the Dave Matthews Band
Our House by Crosby, Stills & Nash
Neat Little Domestic Life by Of Montreal
Daily Routine by Animal Collective
Busy Doin' Nothin' by the Beach Boys
posted by overeducated_alligator at 1:18 PM on March 15, 2012


lots of songs by the Jam (though they often have a bit of a dark twist to them): most notably That's Entertainment and Town Called Malice, but also Mr. Clean, Man in the Corner Shop, and (Just Who Is) The 5 O'Clock Hero.
posted by scody at 1:27 PM on March 15, 2012 [3 favorites]


Moldy Peaches - Jorge Regula
posted by 2bucksplus at 1:28 PM on March 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


wow, 20 answers and nobody suggested Time?
posted by mannequito at 1:31 PM on March 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


Working Man by Rush
Watching the Wheels by John Lennon
posted by Occula at 1:33 PM on March 15, 2012




Oh, also, "Mushaboom," Feist
posted by dlugoczaj at 1:37 PM on March 15, 2012 [2 favorites]


Tom's Diner, Suzanne Vega
posted by castlebravo at 1:39 PM on March 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


Harry Nilsson, Good Old Desk
posted by neroli at 1:54 PM on March 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


I thought "Right in Time" was about getting buck naked and wanking.

*Not*, I am here to tell you, an efficient way to go about balancing the checkbook.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 2:00 PM on March 15, 2012




The Kinks: Do It Again
posted by acanthous at 2:04 PM on March 15, 2012


I thought "Right in Time" was about getting buck naked and wanking.
*Not*, I am here to tell you, an efficient way to go about balancing the checkbook.


Maybe not, but getting naked and wanking is sure as heck a mundane everyday routine for many people, as much as anything else. Especially in that song, quite honestly--it's preceded by stuff as basic as boiling water and watching TV.
posted by dlugoczaj at 2:09 PM on March 15, 2012


I thought the idea was that the water boiling symbolized their heat and rythm and when Lucinda focused on that, she turned off the TV and fell right to it. Hell of a way to make mac & cheese -- scares the hell out of the kids.

P.S. Dancing in the Dark, by Springsteen?
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 2:14 PM on March 15, 2012


By Pearl Jam; Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town (Vs) and maybe, Better Man (Vitology).

From A Kitchen Table - Dave Alvin, Blackjack David.
posted by elendil71 at 2:20 PM on March 15, 2012


Fiction by Steve Goldberg and the Arch Enemies
posted by ludwig_van at 2:43 PM on March 15, 2012


Mistaken for Strangers by The National
"surprise, surprise they wouldn’t wannna watch
another uninnocent, elegant fall
into the unmagnificent lives of adults..."
posted by changeling at 2:56 PM on March 15, 2012


utilities by the Weakerthans

(actually, a lot of Weakerthans songs discuss the mundane side of things, in an incredibly touching way. highly recommended.)
posted by gursky at 3:21 PM on March 15, 2012


Luce - Good Day
posted by brainmouse at 3:37 PM on March 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


The Mountain Goats - "Woke Up New" (sorry, can't link)
posted by easy, lucky, free at 3:45 PM on March 15, 2012


Forty replies and no Lazy Song?
posted by lilnublet at 4:15 PM on March 15, 2012


Blur- Coffee and TV
and arguably The Clash- Lost in the Supermarket
but both of these are more about the awful mundane than the everything's alright mundane.
posted by Concordia at 4:16 PM on March 15, 2012


Smallcreep's Day may have some of what you're looking for.
posted by Fortnight Bender at 4:21 PM on March 15, 2012


I think almost anything off of Arcade Fire's last album, The Suburbs, would work since that was the concept behind it (growing up bored in the suburbs).
posted by mannequito at 4:41 PM on March 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


Synchronicity II, by The Police.
posted by malaprohibita at 5:04 PM on March 15, 2012






Where have all the cowboys gone
posted by ainsley at 6:04 PM on March 15, 2012


Tip that waitress - Loudon Wainwright III

posted by Prof Iterole at 6:21 PM on March 15, 2012


Morrissey - Everyday is Like Sunday
posted by oceanview at 7:05 PM on March 15, 2012


Black Coffee- (here's Ella Fitzgerald's version)

A Day in the Life (Beatles)
posted by costanza at 7:17 PM on March 15, 2012




Dead End Job by Jeremy Messersmith
posted by ethansh at 7:57 PM on March 15, 2012


Waiting for the Bus - Violent Femmes
posted by defreckled at 9:39 PM on March 15, 2012


Grandaddy - "The Group Who Couldn't Say"

Lotsa Grandaddy, probably.
posted by hermitosis at 10:25 PM on March 15, 2012


Cardiacs - A Little Man And A House
posted by prinado at 11:33 PM on March 15, 2012


Lemon Tree - Fool's Garden
posted by pimli at 3:15 AM on March 16, 2012


Seconding Radiohead's No Surprises and Blur's Coffee & Tv, also adding
Nine Inch Nails - Every day is exactly the same to the list.
posted by revikim at 5:18 AM on March 16, 2012




I was going to leave a song but remembered why I had followed this link and now feel incredibly sad. Still, for those who are to come and because he wanted suggestions, A Midlife's Tale - My Friend the Chocolate Cake.
posted by h00py at 1:31 AM on May 17, 2012


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