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Songs for quitting

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Essays

Songs for quitting

Music to bolster your mood.

Anna Burgess Yang
Mar 30, 2023
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Songs for quitting

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A boom box surrounded by flying pieces of paper in the style of a graphic novel
Image created via Midjourney

I’m traveling with my family for Spring Break this week, as I have done for years. The weeklong school hiatus in March leaves me with one of two options: either juggle kids at home while working or find something to keep everyone entertained. I choose the latter.

I’ve been fortunate to have jobs with enough flexibility that I can take this time off. I know that easily might not have been the case (and even wasn’t the case for colleagues with some of my former employers).

Recently, a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that employers can dock PTO of salaried employees that don’t meet quotas. Monstrous. And not entirely different from the rise in unlimited PTO that usually benefits the employer and not the employee. Employees end up using less PTO with unlimited policies or feel like they’re “always on.” That was true of my experience with unlimited PTO: I usually ended up working a bit.

To any companies that feel the need to dock PTO: gross. One more indication that they don’t care about people or their well-being. One more reason to quit and find something better.

This week (in part because I’m on vacation and didn’t want to write a full essay), I’ve compiled a playlist of “quit songs.” I asked for contributions from people I know who have quit jobs recently, so the playlist has quite a variety.

Enjoy these songs for motivation and validation to leave that crappy employer behind. And if you want to listen to the entire thing on YouTube Music, you can click here.

  1. “Fuck You” by Lily Allen

  2. “Never Going Back Again” by Fleetwood Mac

  3. “Bulletproof” by La Roux

  4. “My Rights Versus Yours” by The New Pornographers

  5. “Movin’ Out” by Billy Joel

  6. “I Don’t Fuck With You” by Big Sean

  7. “Not Ready to Make Nice” by The Chicks

  8. “We’re Not Going to Take It” by Twisted Sister

  9. “Uprising” by Muse

  10. “Baby Blue” by Action Bronson

  11. “Working Class Hero” by Ozzy Osbourne

  12. “Sixteen Tons” by Johnny Cash

  13. “We Gotta Get Out of This Place” by The Animals

  14. “Bang the Drum All Day” by Todd Rundgren

  15. “You Don’t Own Me” by Lesley Gore

  16. “So What” by P!nk

  17. “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who

  18. “Break My Soul” by Beyoncé

  19. “I Disagree” by Poppy

  20. “Titanium” by David Guetta

  21. “you should see me in a crown” by Billie Eilish

  22. “Take This Job and Shove It” by Johnny Paycheck

  23. “Leave Me Alone” by I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME

  24. “Never Forgive You” by Sol Fei

  25. “You’ll miss me when I’m not around” by Grimes

  26. “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen

  27. “Dog Days Are Over” by Florence + The Machine


This publication is free because I love sharing ideas and connecting with others about the future of work. If you want to support me as a writer, you can buy me a coffee.


You can also follow me on LinkedIn for more insights about work, or on Twitter for spicier takes, and Medium where I write about fun stuff like productivity and creativity. Or catch up on the personal side of my life on my blog.

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Songs for quitting

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