K, so, I dunno about you… but Mariah Carey doesn’t inspire me to work harder.

Yet all the “songs for entrepreneurs” playlists I find are chockerblock full o’ divas wailing at the sky.

That ain’t gonna work for me…

…Because startup founders don’t always need songs about reaching our dreams.

Those songs can be helpful – but they really fall short when, after 6 months of launching your product, you start to lose steam.

Startups need solid, no-fluff tunage to get us through all the ups and downs of running our own businesses – especially running them online, where people can say whatever they feel about you and where you can actually see them unsubscribe from your email list or stop following you on Twitter. (Depression ensues.)

Here’s the stuff I listen to while gripping the handlebar as I ride this startup rollercoaster. Hope you dig it…

4 Songs for Getting Over Bad News, Like a Negative Review, No Take-Up on Your Press Release or Other General Rejection

Destiny’s Child – Happy Face
“There’s plenty of people who don’t like me / There’s 10 times more who love me, and I love myself”
Listen to it here

U2 – Stuck in a Moment
“I’m not afraid of anything in this world / There’s nothing you can throw at me that I haven’t already heard / I’m just trying to find a decent melody / A song that I can sing in my own company … You’ve got to get yourself together / You got stuck in a moment, and you now you can’t get out of it / Don’t say that later will be better – now you’re stuck in a moment, and you can’t get out of it”
Listen to a live version (on David Letterman) here

Simon & Garfunkel – The Boxer
“In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his train / And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down”
Listen to it here

Modest Mouse – Float On
“Bad news comes – don’t you worry even when it lands / Good news will work its way to all them plans / We both got fired on exactly the same day / Well, we’ll float on good news is on the way”
Listen to it here

3 Songs for When I Get a Great Email from a Customer or Partner

OneRepublic – Good Life
“To my friends in New York, I say hello / My friends in LA, they don’t know / Where I been for the past few years or so … Oh, this has gotta be the good life / This has gotta be the good life / This could really be a good life, good life”
Listen to it here

Blur – The Universal
“Every paper that you read / Says tomorrow’s your lucky day / Well, here’s your lucky day: It really, really, really could happen / Yes, it really really really could happen / When the days they seem to fall through you, well, just let them go”
Listen to this bit of Britpop magic here

The White Stripes – We Are Gonna Be Friends
Listen to it here – and feel good instantly

4 Songs That Remind Me Why I LOVE Working for Myself

Pixies – Where Is My Mind
“With your feet in the air and your head on the ground / Try this trick and spin it, yeah / Your head will collapse, but there’s nothing in it, and you’ll ask yourself / Where is my mind? Where is my mind?”
Listen to this amazing song inspired by a fish here

The Animals – We Gotta Get Out of This Place
“Watch my daddy in bed a-dyin’ / Watch his hair been turnin’ grey / He’s been working and slaving his life away … We gotta get out of this place / If it’s the last thing we ever do / We’ve gotta get out of this place / ‘Cos, girl, there’s a better life for me and you”
Listen to this song

Otis Redding – Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay
“Sittin’ in the morning sun, I’ll be sitting when the evening comes / Watchin’ the ships roll in, then I’ll watch ’em roll away again / Sitting on the dock of the bay, watchin’ the tide roll away / Sittin’ on the dock of the bay, wastin’ time”
Listen to this stellar chill-out track here

Pernice Brothers – Monkey Suit
“Someone’s rattling on my monkey cage all day / Where I pack away … my best years / Don’t wanna live inside it / Don’t wanna waste a dream and / Don’t let me disappear inside this monkey suit I’m wearing”
Listen to this song

4 Songs for That Winding-Down Hour Between 9 and 10pm

Iron and Wine – Such Great Heights
“When you’re out there on the road / For several weeks of shows and when you scan the radio I hope this song will guide you home / They will see us waving from such great heights / “Come down, now,” they’ll say / But everything looks perfect from far away / Come down, now – but we’ll stay”
Listen to it here

John Mayer – Bigger Than My Body
“Someday I’ll fly, someday I’ll soar / Someday I’ll be so damn much more / ‘Cos I’m bigger than my body gives me credit for”
Listen to it here

Simon & Garfunkel – The Only Living Boy in New York
“Hey, let your honesty shine, shine, shine now / doh d’doh d’doh d’doh, like it shines on me”
Listen to it here

Frou Frou – Let Go
“Let go / Jump in / Well, what you waiting for? / It’s alright ‘cos there’s beauty in the breakdown”
Listen to it here

4 Songs for General Low-Times, Like When a News Story Makes It Sound Like $100M Acquisitions Are Typical

The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army
“And if I catch you comin’ back my way, I’m gonna serve it to you / And that ain’t what you want to hear, but that’s what I’ll do”
Listen to the amazing Jack White here

Christina Aguilera – Fighter
“Made me learn a little bit faster /  Made my skin a little bit thicker / Makes me that much smarter /  So thanks for making me a fighter”
Listen to it here

Pink – So What
“So what? I’m still a rockstar / I’ve got my rock moves / And I don’t need you”
Listen to it here

Johnny Cash (his version of) – Hurt
“And you could have it all / My empire of dirt / I will let you down / I will make you hurt / If I could start again / A million miles away / I would keep myself / I would find a way”
Listen to it here

Finally, 4 Songs for Those in Need of Traditional “Inspiration”

Smashing Pumpkins – Today
“Today is the greatest day I’ve ever known / Can’t wait for tomorrow – I might not have that long”
Listen to it here

Eminem – Lose Yourself
“You only get one shot / Do not miss your chance to blow / This opportunity comes once in a lifetime”
Listen to it here

Katy Perry – Firework
“Baby you’re a firework / Come on let your colors burst / Make ’em go “Oh, oh, oh” / As you shoot across the sky-y-y”
Listen to it here

The Heavy – How You Like Me Now?
Listen to it here