50 Best Rock Songs About Quitting Your Job
Rock Songs for Walking Out and Starting Over
There’s a strange buzz that hits before quitting a job. The mix of relief and panic. You picture the exit, maybe the box of desk stuff, maybe the weird silence of a weekday morning when you should’ve been on your commute. That empty stretch feels both sharp and freeing. The kind of moment where the right song starts to sound different. A riff that cracks open the weight of routine or a lyric that cuts too close. These tracks lean into that limbo, the stretch between burnout and freedom where everything feels both reckless and overdue.
No one quits clean. It’s messy, impulsive, sometimes stupid in the best way. You might feel like Springsteen shouting into the wind or Joan Jett kicking over the last bit of doubt left on the floor. Not every track on here spells out a resignation letter, but they hit that feeling that builds before you slam the door or hit send on that email. The guitars flare, the drums hit harder, and for a few minutes, you believe in starting fresh, even if you have no clue what’s next.
Some of these cuts were never written for that moment, yet they crash right into it anyway. The kind of songs that make quitting sound less like failure and more like waking up. You’ll find a mix of pop, rock, country, and R&B songs that all somehow fit that restless energy. Here are the best rock songs for quitting your job.
Top 10 Quit Your Job Rock Songs
1. 'Take This Job and Shove It' by Johnny Paycheck
2. 'Killing in the Name' by Rage Against the Machine
3. 'I Want to Break Free' by Queen
4. 'Working Man' by Rush
5. 'Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2' by Pink Floyd
6. 'The Job That Ate My Brain' by Ramones
7. 'We're Not Gonna Take It' by Twisted Sister
8. 'Dead End Job' by The Police
9. 'Working for the Weekend' by Loverboy
10. 'Frankly, Mr. Shankly' by The Smiths
Rock Songs About Leaving the Grind #11 to 20
11. 'I've Had It' by Black Flag
12. 'Uprising' by Muse
13. 'Runnin' Down a Dream' by Tom Petty
14. 'Last Hour of the Last Day of Work' by Less Than Jake
15. 'Career Opportunities' by The Clash
16. 'Walk' by Pantera
17. 'Dirty Work' by Steely Dan
18. 'Slave Ship' by The Replacements
19. 'Badlands' by Bruce Springsteen
20. 'Shine' by Collective Soul
Rock Songs for New Beginnings and Escape #21 to 30
21. 'Maggie's Farm' by Bob Dylan
22. 'Free Bird' by Lynyrd Skynyrd
23. 'Born to Run' by Bruce Springsteen
24. 'Thunder Road' by Bruce Springsteen
25. 'Last Resort' by Papa Roach
26. 'I Don't Wanna Be a Star' by The White Stripes
27. 'Ready to Start' by Arcade Fire
28. 'Get Up, Stand Up' by Bob Marley & The Wailers
29. 'Roll Me Away' by Bob Seger
30. 'Slaughter of the Soul' by At the Gates
Rock Songs About Control and Resistance #31 to 40
31. 'Worker's Song' by Dropkick Murphys
32. 'Freedom' by Jimi Hendrix
33. 'We Gotta Get Out of This Place' by The Animals
34. 'Fly By Night' by Rush
35. 'The Plan (Fuck Jobs)' by The Front Bottoms
36. 'Slack Motherfucker' by Superchunk
37. 'Already Gone' by Eagles
38. 'A New Career in a New Town' by David Bowie
39. 'Jump' by Simple Plan
40. 'I Won't Back Down' by Tom Petty
Rock Songs Celebrating Independence #41 to 50
41. 'Renegades of Funk' by Rage Against the Machine
42. 'The Good Life' by Weezer
43. 'Custom Concern' by Modest Mouse
44. 'Second Chance' by Shinedown
45. 'Soul Sucking Jerk' by Beck
46. 'Money' by Pink Floyd
47. 'Know Your Rights' by The Clash
48. 'The Ballad of Buck Ravers' by Refused
49. 'This Fucking Job' by Drive-By Truckers
50. 'Go Your Own Way' by Fleetwood Mac
© 2025 Carson McQueen
