Yeah, cheerful...

Suddenly my iPod starts blaring, “Oooh, take the money and run…” and I have one of those “aha” moments: The Top 10 Architectural Recession Songs of all Time! Kelly loves this mostly because it’s the ONLY idea I have come up with in three weeks. This burst of energy elevates me out of my stupor, and the music starts to flow.

So here is my list starting from number 10. If you feel I overlooked a particular song, tough luck! I’m not in a cheerful mood.

10. “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits.
This is technically more of a pre-recession banking/developer song. Also, the line, “We gotta move these refrigerators/we gotta move these color TVs...” makes direct reference to what several of my architecture friends are doing to make money these days.

9. “Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads.
OK, I admit I don’t exactly know what this song is about, but it has “house” in the title, and it’s so angst ridden it had to be on the list.

8. “Your Cash Ain’t Nothin’ but Trash” by The Clovers.
Steve Miller ripped off this 1954 R&B hit. I put this song in here because I figured at least a few people would write me complaining I had no authentic blues songs. I wish I had the balls to sing this to some of my derelict clients.

7. “Car Wash” by Rose Royce.
What better architectural recession song than one that has commercial building references and describes what several of my other designer friends are currently doing for work?

6. “Shuttin’ Down Detroit” by John Rich.
Had to throw in a country song! This genre is good for recessions, but most songs are about losing your farm, horse or truck—not exactly architecture. This one is also number four on my “Top Five Urban Planning Recession Songs of All Time.” Here is the chorus (remember to sing this with a twang):

‘Cause in the real world they’re shutting Detroit down,
While the boss man takes his bonus pay and jets out of town.
And DC’s bailing out the bankers as the farmers auction ground,
Yeah, while they’re living it up on Wall Street in that New York City town…

5. “We Built this City (on Rock and Roll)” by Starship.
Not actually a recession song and barely rock-n-roll. Furthermore, I HATE this song. Starship does sing about building a city, but I threw this in to see if you were really paying attention!

4. “Money (That’s What I Want)”
written by Bradford/Gordy and made famous by the Beatles.
There are actually several good recession songs with the title Money. I love this one because it is so raunchy. I altered the lyrics a tad to make them more architectural:

Your [designs] give me a thrill,
But [marketing renderings] don't pay my bills,
Now give me money,
That’s what I want…

3. “Take the Money and Run” by The Steve Miller Band.
This song is also in my “Top Ten A.I.G. Bailout” song list (hey, I have a lot of lists because I have a lot of free time). This one is so far up because I have always secretly wanted to be Billy Joe in the song. You know, “Two young lovers with nothin’ better to do…”

2. “Livin’ for the City” by Stevie Wonder.
Funk-a-fide, gritty, urban, relevant, bad-to-the-bone funky, ghetto, out of cash, car smog, streetwise, did I mention funky? This one, hands down, tops my “Top 10 Urban Planning Recession Songs of All Time.”

1. “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” by R.E.M.
This could either be a song about the economic collapse or B.I.M. technology. Whatever way one spins it, compared to the mid-2000s, it really is the end of the world as we know it… And I feel fine?

You know, these songs are actually making me feel a bit…cheerful... “Ooooh, take the money and run…”