Escape from Cubicle Nation now has a theme song: The Cube by Owen Sartori

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Sometimes things fall in my lap that I don’t even realize I am looking for.

A few months ago, I got an email from Owen Sartori, a cube-dwelling computer programmer-turned full time musician from Minneapolis.  He said:

"Hi Pam!  I love your blog and wrote a song that you might really enjoy.  It could be Escape from Cubicle Nation’s theme!"

I listened to the song, for the first of at least 50 times, and can’t agree more!  Here are the lyrics (the song launches when you go to his MySpace page):

The Cube
by Owen Sartori

Another beautiful day in the cube
There’s data to be entered by this paper-pushing fool
You know, I never see the connection
between the face in the computer’s reflection and this micromanaged you
So tired, so barren, so bloody uninspired

Call it cubicle or coffin

from the moment that I log in my mind plays hide-and-seek
You know, I never feel like working
If they knew how much they pay me for surfing I wouldn’t last a week
command or strong demand that this…
That this should be my life
Such a cruel joke that this should be my life
Oh, my life

What’s important is the paycheck
If you can never mind the train wreck you just might make it through the week
What a pitiful existence
always kneeling to the resistance, never rising up to take yourself a peek

over this grey divider, this foul obstruction, this shameful notion…

That this…  That this should be my life
Such a cruel joke that this should be my life
Oh, such a cruel joke that this should be my life
I’m more startled than I’m scared
More angry than I’m sad I’m not yet there

fool me once I’m still the shameful, still the fool and still to blame for this.

That this should be my life

Such a cruel joke that this should be my life
Oh, such a cruel joke that this should be my life
I’m more startled than I’m scared
More angry than I’m sad

One of the things that I love the most about this connection is that Owen is writing from personal experience.  And, of course, that he escaped, realizing that the "cruel joke" of cube dwelling "was not his life."

The Cube is the title from his new CD, Another Beautiful Day in the Cube.  If you love the song or the album, buy it!  By supporting independent musicians, you support entrepreneurship in general.  The iTunes link is here (you need iTunes to access it) or you can get it from Burst Records.

Great work Owen!

I am already having fantasies of a speaking tour to promote the book which begin by blasting The Cube loudly in the room.  🙂

6 Responses to “Escape from Cubicle Nation now has a theme song: The Cube by Owen Sartori”

  1. Christine says:

    Very cool Pam.

    “I’m more startled than I’m scared.”

    Amen.

  2. How cool are you, Pam? It’s so great to get Owen’s music out there through your blog. Great recording too! Very Elvis Costello-ish. Thanks for passing it along!

  3. Emily says:

    I think I might be smitten. Sounds like a rock anthem to me. Perhaps further inspiration to write? —Eagerly anticipating “EFCN:The Book” in New York

  4. Yeah, Owen Rocks.
    If you like that song you’ll love his other song, “The way my life goes”, also available to listen to at myspace…

  5. Owen Sartori says:

    I can’t thank you enough for putting the word out there like this, Pam. Fellow cube-dwellers and ex-cube-dwellers, in the words of a guy whose office had no right angles, “I feel your pain.” The only diffence here is, I actually mean it.

  6. Congratulations; you are probably one of the only bloggers with your own theme song. Very cool. 🙂


    Chris:

    Owen was kind enough to share with me … all people fed up in the cube feel free to adopt it as your song too!

    Maybe it could play as a soundtrack for people who are quitting with “Jerry Maguire” speeches. 🙂

    -Pam