Waking soundtrack, vol. 2

black cassette tape on top of red and yellow surface

I don’t think my love of music is unique. Music is powerful. It can transport you forward or backward in time. It can change your mood in an instant. We don’t deserve music.

I often wake up with music going through my head. This isn’t just in the morning; my nocturnal stumbles to the bathroom are often soundtracked by some tune that I forget as soon as my head hits the pillow again. For my own amusement, I’ve kept track of the tracks I’ve woken up to playing in my mind. Now, I’d like to share them with you.

This is my waking soundtrack for the week of August 3 – August 9.


August 3

Dance with Somebody / The Midnight

I’m really digging The Midnight’s latest album (affiliate, and below), but this song makes me miss going out dancing. Oh well, solo living room dance parties are still a thing!

AUGUST 4

Walkin’ on the Sun / Smash Mouth

I woke up to go to the bathroom and this song popped up. This is the first time in about fifteen years this song has been in anyone’s head. And now it’s gonna be stuck in yours.

This might be a love attack, but those outfits are an attack on my eyes.
Lover / Taylor Swift

When I actually woke up, this lil ditty was going through my head. I’m an unironic TayTay fan, but this song (and most of this album) is kinda meh. Maybe it’s because Lover blatantly screams first dance as a married couple.

AUGUST 6

Brooklyn / Tyler Lyle

Tyler Lyle is one half of the duo that makes up The Midnight. There’s a version of this track on Monsters, and while that version is beautiful, this stripped down take is so intimate I imagine it would be more suitable for a first dance than a song you’d likely hear at every wedding held in a barn for the next ten years.

I’ll cover you in winter like a blanket by the fire makes me long for December in a way no lyric has before

AUGUST 7

Wake Me / Bleachers

Ironic that a song with this title was one that woke me! I can listen to Bleacher’s Strange Desire without skipping a single track. It’s such a great debut album! This track would also be a good first dance.

In fact, every song on this list is better than TayTay’s. Yes, even Smash Mouth. Don’t hate me, Swifties. If a Smash Mouth song was good enough for Shrek you need to get ogre it.

My heart aches when he screams If you’re lonely…

AUGUST 8

Rain on Me / Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande

I became a fan of Mother Monster as I Amtracked back and forth across the state in my younger and more formative years, as F. Scott would say. I’d plug her in and just watch Amish country roll by. Gaga’s latest, Chromatica hasn’t grabbed me the way her earlier albums have, but there’s not really a standout track for me, barring the orchestral interludes. This track has the added hindrance of featuring the perpetual-26-year-old Grande. There’s no denying she has a powerhouse voice, but she annoys me.

AUGUST 9

It Overtakes Me / The Flaming Lips

I haven’t listened to The Flaming Lips in LITrally years, so I have no idea where this came from. What a wild thing the mind is!


Of all the weird shit my brain does, this is one thing I like the most. Now, if I could just permanently shut down all the negative self-talk we’d be golden.

I hope you got some new music reccs, dear reader, or this reminded you of some old faves. What songs were playing in your head this week? Does anyone else think Steve Harwell and Guy Fieri are the same person? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a wonderful Sunday, and remember: Be kind. Be well. Be yourself.

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