A Playlist and a Story

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I’ve had my fair share of bad wake-ups. There was the time in the parking garage in Iowa City, the time I slept through a midterm, and the time when I woke up to discover a raccoon in my sheets (I found out later it was the family’s pet.. but still). There was also freshman year of college when I would periodically forget to program the song of my iHome alarm and it would default to the first artist: 12 Rods’ “So Glad That It’s Over”.. the first line of which is “Today has sucked.”

And yet, all of my childhood morning wake-ups were perfect… or at least I remember them that way. Slowly being coaxed out of bed at my grandparents’ house to the smell of pancakes. Springing awake at 6am out of pure excitement for the Christmas presents that awaited me downstairs. Even a dog-lick-to-the-face seems delightful in hindsight.

Sure, life is a bit more complex that it was on Christmas morning in ‘93, but I think we deserve to reclaim some of the morning happiness from our youth. Waking up to one of the songs from this playlist is a simple pleasure that makes my morning more peaceful, and makes facing the workaday world a bit easier. These songs may not get me to do an Evander Holyfield impression as I make my way into the shower (for that I recommend Thunderstruck), but every morning when one of the beautiful instrumental intros from this playlist comes on, I just want to roll over and hug my alarm as I greet the day.

The best compliment you could give Allison Wessel is that you like her gchat, facebook, or twitter links. She is a tadpole turned South Carolinian turned wildcat turned Chicagoan, and her favorite word is portmanteau.