 " Dog Eat Dog " is a style parody of the Talking Heads . Described as a " tongue @-@ in @-@ cheek look at office life " , the song was inspired by Yankovic 's past experience of working in the <unk> as well as the traffic department at <unk> One radio station . He noted , " At first I thought [ the job ] was <unk> cool that I had a phone and a desk and a little <unk> to call my own , but after a while I felt like my soul had been sucked out of me . " The song features a line directly parodying the Talking Heads song " Once In a Lifetime " : " Sometimes I tell myself , this is not my beautiful <unk> / Sometimes I tell myself this is not my beautiful chair ! " This mirrors a similar line in the Talking Heads song : " You may tell yourself , this is not my beautiful house / You may tell yourself , this is not my beautiful wife " . 
