Nea Fane – Un Biet Român Pripășit în America / A Hapless Romanian Stuck in The US

Took me only twenty-five years in corporate America to finally make some of my colleagues understand the difference between an American Out of Office and a European one. Americans on vacation are basically just working from a sunnier location – “Call me anytime if you need me!” – while their European counterparts slap on an Out of Office that essentially says, “Gone for three weeks. Don’t even think about it.” And everyone just gets it.

Pink Martini, the band that redefined elevator music, took inspiration from a poem by Guillaume Apollinaire and turned it into an anthem for us, the master procrastinators.

Hôtel

Ma chambre a la forme d’une cage
Le soleil passe son bras par la fenêtre
Mais moi qui veux fumer pour faire des mirages
J’allume au feu du jour ma cigarette
Je ne veux pas travailler
Je veux fumer

Back in my college days and even later in life, we used to joke about Cubans at Fidel Castro’s meetings, chanting: “Samba sí, trabajo no.” Little did we know, it was actually a real song.

This Romanian song is actually a love song, but I like the chorus and the title, “I’m not in the mood today”

StarKid Productions, the Chicago-based musical theatre company unexpectedly (though not so unexpectedly, because Americans are humans, too) created a hit with the universally relatable, hilarious clip “I don’t really want to do the work today.” And just because I’m in a mood, I give you the whole song, instead of the mini-clip.

Verde Más Allá is a funny, relatable song for anyone who’s just not feeling it and wants to escape to greener pastures. It takes you to that moment when you’re just done with the routine and dreaming of a fresh start.

To prove that I didn’t live for nothing, I created my own “whatever, I’m off” video. It’s only 20 seconds long because the ice almost melted in the glass. The background music? “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” by Nightlosers.

The songs above are my go-to songs when I’m in a mood for doing nothing; I’m sure there are many more, but “I don’t really want to do the work today” and start looking for them.