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May 3, 2024

YOUR tracks - The Red Bull of all playlists: Songs to keep you awake while doing your mindless office work

By ADI ELBAZ | September 26, 2007

For when you have wrenched all possible jokes about The Office out of your mind-numbing job and are three minutes away from a catatonic slump on the copy machine:

10. Tegan and Sara - "Hop a Plane"A super-catchy song that grabs you by the collar of your flannel shirt and refuses to let go until you get your groove on (discreetly, by the water cooler). The strong female vocals are perfect for shouting along in frustration.

9. Amr Diab - "Allah La Yharamni Menak"Bouncy pop imported from Egypt! Though the translated title sounds like a line from the Islamic legal code, the melody is pure bouncy, danceable Mideast kitsch.

8. Queen - "Somebody to Love"Speaking of kitsch ... Who understands frustration better than Freddy Mercury? This classic song about boredom and disappointment is totally appropriate for blasting in your office, when the most exciting thing that's happened to you all day is accidentally stapling your finger to your invoice.

7. Stars - "What I'm Trying to Say"This song is impossible not to dance to. You'll be shimmying near the (fake) potted ficus within 10 seconds of the opening riff.

6. Tegan and Sara - "The Con"Oh, angry chick rock. What could possibly encompass your boredom and frustration better than a supremely pissed-off tattooed duo with voices like slingshots?

5. Metro Station - "Seventeen Forever"This is catchy electro-techno, vaguely European-sounding, totally manufactured pop. The lyrics are trite and easily memorizable. They have a distressingly emo aesthetic. They may hurt your indie cred, but man are they fun to listen to.

4. Umbrellas - "Vampires"Blood-sucking creatures of the night are to a mellow, catchy pop tune as peanut butter is to chocolate. Or as your job is to you. Or as I am to analogies, clearly. Anyway it's a really fun song whose mellow, catchy hooks will keep you awake.

3. Zorak - "My Heart Is Full of Hatred"I think this song is sung from the point of view of a grasshopper. A little bizarre, but the title and lyrics like "I am Zorak! You are crap!" are perfectly suited to your attitude towards menial office drudgery.

2. Regina Spektor - "On the Radio"This song will make you bop your head and snap your fingers and possibly try to yodel. We advise against that.

1. Jenny Owens Young - "Hot in Here" (cover)She makes hip-hop misogyny sound ... pretty? Young's deep, supple voice and irreverent lyrics will make you want to dance around in your rolling office chair.

BONUS TRACK: "I've Got a Crush on Obama," by Obama Girl. It's a barely-clad bimbette's ode to Barack Obama. Youtube it when your boss isn't looking; you'll laugh for days.


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