 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 mailrooms as well as the traffic department at Westwood One radio station . He noted , " At first I thought [ the job ] was kinda cool that I had a phone and a desk and a little cubicle to call my own , but after a while I felt like my soul had been sucked out of me . " The song feature a line directly parodying the Talking Heads song " Once In a Lifetime " : " Sometimes I tell myself , this is not my beautiful stapler / Sometimes I tell myself this is not my beautiful chair ! " This mirror 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 " .