Sometime inspiration and clarity can come in cluttered ettings. Here’s how my recent visit to an Italian American restaurant playing uncool hits from the 80s refreshed my week’s work:

OK, I think it’s great to drink cortados alonside millennials. I like it when cafes have locavore small plates. And I work well with coffeehouse background noise and Pop Noir soundtracks.

It’s essential to have a few great work haunts when there’s a 6-year old hollering around the home office. I’m grateful for Tamper Cafe in Medford and Diesel Cafe in Somerville, with great tunes and intense yet non-intrusive laptopped neighbors. I love Mystic Valley Roasters and Kickstand Cafe, too.

But where I recently got my best out-of-home work done was at our local Salvatore’s restaurant. I was surprisingly well able to engage in my own work while Peter Cetera and Van Halen songs rang out. And somehow the big screen TVs with muted CNN and sports displays were just another color, no more or less fascinating or distracting than the couple next to me ordering bottles of Bud Light, instead of the restaurant’s decent wine or microbrew offerings. It all jarred me into a weird focus.

Hip is great. Hip is fum. Hip is essential.

But sometimes hearing “The Glory of Love” just a bit too loud it can inspire your best concentration.