My Top Ten 6am Songs

 

Four days a week, I get up at six a.m.

Yes, my life is just like Groundhog Day.

Here's ten other early risers...


10. The Lovin' Spoonful - Six O'Clock

John Sebastian finds 6 a.m. to be a very special time.

Nah. Can't say I'm with him on that. Cool oldie though.

9. George Michael - Spinning The Wheel

Listen, George has been stood outside your house since 5 a.m. and by the time 6 rolls around, he's royally pissed off that you're still not home. Great stalker anthem.

I remember the radio station I worked at (along with many others) insisted on playing the dancey remix of this when it was out. The slow, sultry original is far superior.

8. James Yorkston & The Athletes - 6.30 Is Way Too Early

6.30 is just way too early
To get up this cold December morning
Though as long as she insists on being the theme to my every single dream
That coffee it is a calling

That's a pretty great opening verse, and this song only gets better...

7. Belle & Sebastian - Come On, Sister

In which Stuart Murdoch gets woken up at 6 by roadworks outside his window. Oh well, he's up now, might as well start mooning over an old girlfriend...

See also Olympic Village, 6am, an instrumental B&S recorded to accompany the Rio games. Not entirely sure why.

6. Stornoway - The End of the Movie

Gorgeous...

Six a.m. you left me for the last time
On my doorstep blinking in the sunshine
Blamed and framed I'm frozen in the picture
Hanging in the space you left inside me
Climbed upstairs into the final scene

Waiting for the credits to appear
For all the years that I've been starring
Starring in a film with you and leading
Leading with a star I knew but I'm waking up
In a lone beam of light where the dust is dancing
As the music fades

6. Tom Waits - Ol' 55

Tom Waits for no man, not even at 6 a.m. (No, I will never grow tired of that pun.)

And it's six in the morning, gave me no warning; I had to be on my way.
Well there's trucks all a-passing me, and the lights are all flashing,
I'm on my way home from your place.

I know I won't make many friends by saying this, but I love the Eagles version almost as much as I do Tom's.

5. Eels - Saturday Morning

The excitement of being a small boy, getting up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning with a long, long day ahead... but who's gonna play with me?

4. The Bangles - Manic Monday

Prince. Susannah Hoffs. If you don't love this, check your pulse.

Six o'clock already
I was just in the middle of a dream
I was kissin' Valentino
By a crystal blue Italian stream
But I can't be late
'Cause then I guess I just won't get paid
These are the days
When you wish your bed was already made

3. Ben Folds - Brick

The saddest song Ben Folds ever wrote begins at 6 a.m. on the day after Christmas. 

2. The Jam - That's Entertainment

Waking up at six a.m. on a cool warm morning
Opening the windows and breathing in petrol
An amateur band rehearsing in a nearby yard
Watching the telly and thinking about your holidays

The Jam were really rather good, weren't they?

1. The Monkees - Daydream Believer

"7A"

"What number is this, Chip?"

"7-A!!!"

"OK!, know what I mean, like, don’t get excited man. It’s cause I’m short, I know."

Davy Jones dreams of the 6 o'clock alarm never ringing... but it does, and when he finally rises, his shaving razor's cold... and it stings.

Cheer up, Sleepy Jean!



Which 6 a.m. song would get you out of bed?