My morning commute in 10 songs - with two Guardian lifestyle and culture writers
Music matters. The right song can vanquish the blues, put a spring in our step and help us see the world in a more generous light. On our morning commute, nailing the soundtrack is extra important. With a limited time frame to listen in, you want every song to be a winner. A carefully curated selection of tunes can also help us get in the right frame of mind for the day ahead and savour those final moments of me-time before work begins.
So what are the best songs to start your day with? To point you in the direction of some foolproof mood-makers, we asked two of the of our culture writers to tell us about the songs they go for on their morning commutes – be that a train ride or just the short walk to grab a coffee before settling into the home office. Here’s what they picked.
The Lifestyle writer’s POV
Maggie Rogers – Want Want
The dizzying heights of new love; the profound, religious experience of a new crush: Maggie Rogers is a master at telegraphing obsession and I feel nothing short of giddy listening to this song. This is not good for balancing on the bus but it is great for headbanging in the street.
Beabadoobee – Talk
As my housemate says every morning when I play this song at 100dB at 7:30AM, Beabadoobee is the new Avril! I will not be elaborating on this.
Emile Mosseri – Rile Me Up
I rarely listen to songs without lyrics, but when I do, they better be weird, squirmy instrumentals overlaid with fairy-floss harmonies and mysterious woodwind chirps echoing from distant planets. This one is equal parts unhinged and life-affirming, much like the film it’s from: Miranda July’s Kajillionaire.
Belle and Sebastian – Seeing Other People
In my mind it is still 2014 and acceptable to stan Belle and Sebastian. This song is technically about a tortured relationship but just try to listen to those jangly chords and not instantly break out into a skip, much to the chagrin of your fellow commuters.
Phoebe Bridgers – I Know the End
In reality it is 2022 and thankfully still acceptable to stan Phoebe Bridgers. This song is technically about a country in decline and the apocalyptic state of the world but just try to scream along to the last verse and not instantly feel some shred of catharsis.
George Michelle – shakemy ass
The title is self-explanatory.
Carly Rae Jepsen – Western Wind
If you close your eyes you can imagine yourself ensconced somewhere warmer, beachier, and far, far away. Or – as Carly sings – maybe just LA.
Len – Steal My Sunshine
This bumper sticker says it best: Keep honking! I’m listening to Len’s 1999 meteoric sensation Steal My Sunshine.
Hatchie – Quicksand
Only Hariette Pilbeam could make crushing self-doubt sound so euphoric. When everything gives way to that blissed-out high of a chorus, it sounds like all of our mundane anxieties might melt away too.
Rostam – 4Runner
This is the best song, so far, from the former Vampire Weekend multi-instrumentalist and producer’s solo career. It’s an ode to the open road named after a Toyota model (something I only learned via Googling as I am a gay cliché who does not drive), and – at risk of sounding incredibly twee – it’s just so expansive, the multitude of possible lives and realities stretching out before you like a freeway.
The culture POV with Katie Cunningham
The The – This Is The Day
Years ago, when I was working a job that made me very unhappy, I would listen to this song every day on the walk into the office. It was a little hit of hope and a reminder that things could get better. (They did, eventually.)
Angel Olsen – Lights Out
After I left that job and went freelance, I listened to Angel Olsen’s album Burn Your Fire for No Witness in full as I was cooking breakfast every morning for about a year. It’s a record about self-reliance, letting the light in and putting effort into getting the things you want, and it felt like a manifesto for a better life. I credit it at least partly with curing my depression.
But if I had to pick one song for a quick commute, it’s this one, which contains lyrics that I would absolutely post as a Facebook status if it was still 2008 and I was still an earnest teen: “No one’s gonna take it for you, darling, it’s true/ No one’s gonna make it for you.” Truly words to live by.
Hoku – Perfect Day
The crown jewel of the Legally Blonde (2001) soundtrack. No further notes.
Belle & Sebastian – Lazy Line Painter Jane
I have a Spotify playlist called Hippity Hoppity Mood, for listening to when I am in a hippity hoppity mood. A hippity hoppity mood is a mood that feels the way the little girl in the yellow jumper looks when she interrupts her dad’s BBC interview. Anyway, this is the first song in the playlist because it is pure joy. Pairs well with sunshine and a soy flat white to go.
YACHT – Psychic City (Classixx Remix)
Pure vibes for the indie sleaze micro-generation, of which I am a card-carrying member. Also the number one most perfect song for driving with the window down (or top off if you’re rich enough for that).
Lorde – Green Light
For when you need to feel like the main character of your train carriage.
The Boys Next Door – These Boots Are Made for Walking
It might be Nancy’s song originally but I will always associate this with a baby-faced, heavily eyelinered Nick Cave, playing in the band that would eventually become the Birthday Party. Perfect for feeling like hot shit as you strut up to the office.
Weyes Blood – Everyday
The swelling chorus, those drums, Natalie Mering bellowing “I need love everyday!” It’s skip-down-the-street, thank-god-I’m-alive music.
Alanis Morissette – Thank U
Jagged Little Pill hogs all the attention, but for my money, it’s this track from Alanis Morissette’s 1998 follow-up album Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie that is actually her best work. A song about, as Kylie Jenner would say, realising things, but one that I genuinely find very life-affirming. Alanis gets it!
Kacey Musgraves – Slow Burn
I just feel thankful for every silly little day on Earth we get when I listen to this.
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