Great Recession: The Playlist

I was going to make this the Great Depression 2.0 playlist, but it looks like (at least, for the next several hours) that we're not nose-diving directly into a horrifying ecomonic depression. BUT:

Recessions deserve playlists of excellent music. Here are eight songs that will either cheer you up when you have a mounting stack of bills in front of you, or...depress you. Here goes:

1. It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) -- R.E.M. This one is pretty obvious and needs no explanation.

2. Fast Car -- Tracy Chapman. OK, this is literally one of the most depressing songs I think I've ever heard (all about "getting out of this poor town in a fast car that we can't afford") but it's pretty much a sign of the times for a certain part of our population, no?

3. You Got The Music in You -- New Radicals. If this song doesn't scream "1997" I don't know what does (especially the lines about "Fashion shoots with Beck and Hanson, Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson," which incidentally sounds like the worst fashion shoot ever). However, it just might cheer you up.

4. Don't Stop Believin' -- Journey. Seriously the cheesiest song ever (and quite possibly ruined by the finale of "The Sopranos") but it might do the trick?

5. What's So Funny 'Bout Peace Love and Understanding? -- Elvis Costello. This song will cheer you up any time of the day or night

6. God Only Knows -- Beach Boys. From the "Pet Sounds" album which was their best one, and even if you're going poor, if you have someone whom you love, this is a great song to remind you of that.

7. Cities in Dust -- Siouxie and the Banshees. An old song from the '80s, but seriously, this band had a major influence on practically every major current band (if you listen to a Killers album and don't hear the influence, you're probably deaf). Also, it's about cities lying in dust, which might happen if the stock market tumbles any faster

8. Plainsong -- The Cure. This song is practically instant lithium, it will put you in a very good state of mind.

OK, I'm done. Feel free to leave comments with (better) songs to cheer us all up during the recession.