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“Why Don’t You Get a Job?” is from The Offspring’s 1998 album Americana. Written by Dexter Holland, the upbeat ska-punk track about lazy partners was released as the album’s second single in 1999.

It reached No. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 4 on the Alternative chart and No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart. The melody draws heavily from the Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” a similarity that was widely noted at the time.

“China Girl” is from David Bowie’s 1983 album Let's Dance. Co-written by Bowie and Iggy Pop, the track was originally recorded by Pop for his 1977 album The Idiot. Bowie’s 1983 version, co-produced by Nile Rodgers, became a massive global hit, peaking at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching #2 in the UK, Canada and Australia.
 
Bowie re-recorded the track partly to help his close friend Iggy Pop financially, knowing the renewed success would generate substantial songwriting royalties for his co-writer. While the 1977 original was a dark, industrial rock track, the 1983 version became the definitive hit. The provocative music video intentionally parodied Asian stereotypes and consumerism, ending with Bowie and his co-star recreating the famous beach embrace from the film From Here to Eternity. While some viewers initially misunderstood its message, Bowie later explained that the video was meant as a critique of racism and the exoticization of Asian women.

“Cose della Vita” is from Eros Ramazzotti’s 1993 album Tutte storie. The original Italian version became a major European hit, reaching No. 1 in Belgium.

In 1997, Ramazzotti re-recorded the song as a bilingual duet with Tina Turner, who had heard the original on the radio and asked to collaborate. Turner co-wrote the English lyrics, and the track, titled “Cose della Vita (Can’t Stop Thinking of You),” became an even bigger success, reaching the Top 5 in several European countries including Germany and the Netherlands. The original music video was directed by Spike Lee.

“Roxanne” is from The Police’s 1978 debut album Outlandos d’Amour. Written by Sting, the song was inspired during a stay at a cheap hotel in Paris in 1977, where a poster for the play Cyrano de Bergerac in the lobby gave him the title and the idea for the track.

Originally released in 1978 to little attention, it was reissued in 1979 and reached No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song’s distinctive opening chord and laughter happened by accident: during the recording session, Sting sat down on an open piano keyboard, and the band decided to keep the moment in the final track.

“Ocean Avenue” is the title track and second single from Yellowcard’s 2003 major-label debut album of the same name. Frontman Ryan Key named the song after the real Ocean Avenue in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, where the band spent much of their teenage years, he changed the original idea of “Ocean Boulevard” because it was harder to rhyme.

Released in 2004, the track reached No. 37 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 21 on Alternative Airplay. Its success helped the album sell more than 1.8 million copies in the United States and established Yellowcard as one of the defining pop-punk bands of the mid-2000s.