10 songs you should wake up to
There are loads of noises you might wake up with: dogs barking, 10 hours of dogs barking, your wife screaming, Jonas Brothers, Tony Carreira or neighbors fighting with swords. But there is a select group of songs that not only will cheer you up but also put you on the nicest mood for the day. And, who knows, you might not stab anyone until 8:00PM…
10. WELCOME TO THE ANVIL, DAVID LEVY
This is basically an ad for Tidal — Hi-fi no less! — so be prepared for some songs available pretty much elsewhere (the Tubes, the Spotifys, the Soundclouds of life). If you already read a couple of my lines you know I have a thing for soundtracks. Well, Mr. Levy scores the gen:Lock show. And I think he does a pretty god job.
I can also recommend ‘War’ as a morning green smoothie. You can have your spinach, your broccoli, your parsil and also hear and feel properly pumped up for your first meeting.
9. PIXEL GALAXY, SNAIL’S HOUSE
I don’t know where these guys are from (err… Latvia?!). I don’t care for any sort of background or lovely origins story about how they first got together to produce such amazing music (actually, this must be like a one-man band).
This is targeted for the slower crowd that likes to zombie before standing up. For those about to stare into the phone screen before looking at the sun light or something.
Just listen to the Game Boy power on in the beginning. That’s pretty much it.
Wake up!
8. LLAMALE AMOR, VICENTE AMIGO Y EL PELE
Didn’t I tell you this was going to be a pretty international top-10? Shiiit.
Well, here you go. If you don’t feel like talking even in your mother tongue, I respect that but if you’re into trying new stuff this is some loud and heartfelt Español amigo.
Are you up for it? It’s good para la piel and for el corazón. I guess, I don’t know…
7. THE CRESCENT, BONSAI
Title says everything but spoiler alert: it’s jazz. So you deal with it as you usually deal with stuff in the morning… you don’t or ask someone else to deal with it, right?
6. BAD, MICHAEL JACKSON
I think Michael is one of the chosen few whose music fits perfectly into any kind of mood, setting, room, ecosystem, planet, etcetera-hee-hee!
Youngsters say ‘laaaame’ but this musician sold a few albums back in the day.
And nothing gets you happier at the earliest hours of the day than shouting some ‘Whoooos!’. And, of course, a few ‘hee-hee’s.
7. THE PAGEANT OF THE BIZARRE, ZERO 7 AND SIA
When Sia wasn’t playing “the mysterious artist within” card everything was… less mysterious. This one I recommend for those that like simple, repetitive and catchy lyrics. It almost feels like you’re in church.
Anyhoo, great and uplifting choice for 4 minutes and 26 secs of bath, hair drying, nail clipping or pillow fighting karaoke.
6. CALCULATED LOVE, BASSEL & THE SUPERNATURALS
It’s basically great music everywhere, before and after 10:00AM, and it gives me the chance to link to something I wrote about them, circa late 2019. Another spoiler alert: it’s Portuguese (the text I wrote, not the band, that’s American).
So what? Translate it and hate me later.
5. 19.10, CHILDISH GAMBINO
I first saw Donald Glover on Community, then stand-up, then on some uncanny cameos in movies and somehow I missed his musical endeavors. Like, everyone else knew Gambino.
Never heard about Troy.
Not a thing about the Little Hitlers bit.
Just the rapper!
What matters is… Donald/Childish is awesome. And so am I. And you. Look at the mirror and go like:
“To be beautiful is to be hunted
I can’t change the truth, I can’t get you used to this”
for hours. That’s a bold choice for everyone, from cocky CEOs to common burglars.
4. LIFE, HADDAWAY
it’s German and it’s probably one of the best morning songs ever made.
3. BREAK STUFF, LIMP BIZKIT
Well, “someone had to” (not really but who cares, “it’s all about the he-says, she-says bullshit”, amirite?)
2. THE WORLD OF ADVENTURERS, YOSHIHISA HIRANO
And, trust me (because I had it as a ringtone for ages, it qualifies): it’s the least annoying sound playing at this time of the day. On the contrary: it’s addictive, it’s joyful, it will get you running 10 laps around the house before you know it.
1. LOVELY DAY, BILL WITHERS
Instant classic. The Portuguese crowd might refer to it while tuning to some Rádio M80. I think the song shatters the competition because of its… simplicity.
Even if there’s a “Lovely Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay” at the end being held by almost 20 seconds (it’s actually a record for a hit song) trying to make things more complicated, Mr. Withers has the perfect tonic for your grumpy mood. The song’s more than 40 years old and it’s still, in my opinion, the best choice for the earliest stages of any given day of the week.
Honourable mentions (in no particular order and randomly filtered by genre):
SOUNDTRACKS
Making Amends, Henry Jackman (90% of Henry Jackman’s work is absolutely epic)
My Name is… Peter B. Parker, Daniel Pemberton (it’s a Bodycombat class song)
ANIME
くじら島より, Yoshihisa Hirano
Onihei Intro, Saori Yuki
Kokuten, Yasuharu Takanashi
EURODANCE
JAZZY/FUNKY STUFF
Anything by Jacob Collier
Anything by Joe-Armon Jones
FLAMENCO-ish
Anything by Ojos de Brujo
