The Housing Market Bubble

Pop!

Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky tacky Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes all the same There's a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a yellow one And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses all went to the university
Where they were put in boxes and they came out all the same,
And there's doctors and there's lawyers, and business executives
And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

Everybody knows the show. Everybody knows the song. It is interesting to see so many varied artists tackle the song since season 2 when contemporary artists replaced Malvina Reynold's original version from season 1.

It was a protest song from the 60's against the urban move out to a conformist suburbia. It is thought to be inspired visually by the houses of Daly City, California, as Reynolds lived in nearby Berkeley. (Many of the houses in Daly City were designed by Henry Doelger after World War II, resulting in the similar architecture of many houses there and in the surrounding areas. They feature flat roofs and predominantly right angles, giving them their famed box-like shape. -courtesty of good ol' Wikipedia)

The song fits perfectly with the show's plot.

MP3: Malvina Reynolds (YSI)
MP3: Regina Spektor (Season 2) (YSI)
MP3: The Shins (YSI)
MP3: The Decemberists (YSI)