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My Gen X Playlist: Daysleeper – REM

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I was enjoying a cup of coffee on a quiet morning. I was reading the news, watched an episode on Netflix. I wanted the weekend to last forever.

My wife slept in that morning. When she appeared, I asked her what she would like to have for breakfast: pancakes or omelets. She perked up but asked, Don’t you have to work today? I hadn’t planned on working this weekend. It was a rare weekend that I finally felt I was ahead of my projects. No, I’m just going to enjoy my Sunday.

Except…. Wait for it…

My wife clued me in. Today was Monday. Not Sunday. Oh shit. I’m late for a meeting. Fortunately, it was an internal meeting and not with clients. I joined the call 45 minutes late. And I thought, what’s done is done. I fessed up and came clean and everybody had a good laugh.

I’ve already included a few Monday songs on the playlist (I Don’t Like Mondays, Manic Mondays). Rainy Days and Mondays by the Carpenters came to mind. But REM’s Daysleeper echoed in my head.

The lyrics were inspired when lead singer Michael Stipe saw the word “Daysleeper” on the door in an apartment and wondered about the life of the person inside.

“Lyrically, what can I say? I relate,” Peter Buck wrote in the liner notes for the hits compilation In Time. “After all the years we’ve been a band, the one thing I know we have in common is that we stay up all night and sleep in the day. Also, we’re all incredibly stubborn, so I guess that’s two things. Anyway, I think this song perfectly captures that woozy, sea sick feeling you get during the daylight hours when you haven’t slept.”

Songfacts

Now that I think about it, this song has nothing to do with my Monday mishap. I didn’t sleep in. I wasn’t up all night. I’m not even a day sleeper. I was up at 6:00 am and already enjoyed two cups of coffee before I got a clue. Oh well. What’s done is done. I’m good with this one. Hope you are, too.

Right now it’s Tuesday morning and ready to go…

–

For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Receiving department, three A.M
Staff cuts have socked up the overage
Directives are posted, no callbacks, complaints
Everywhere is calm
Hong Kong is present, Taipei awakes
All talk of circadian rhythm

I see today with a newsprint fray
My night is colored headache gray
Daysleeper
Daysleeper
Daysleeper

The bull and the bear are marking their territories
They're leading the blind with their international glories
I am the screen, the blinding light
I'm the screen, I work at night

I see today with a newsprint fray
My night is colored headache gray
Don't wake me with so much
Daysleeper

I cried the other night
I can't even say why
Fluorescent flat caffeine lights
It's furious balancing
I am the screen, the blinding light
I'm the screen, I work at night

I see today with a newsprint fray
My night is colored headache gray
Don't wake me with so much
The ocean machine is set to nine
I'll squeeze into heaven and Valentine
My bed is pulling me, gravity
Daysleeper
Daysleeper
Daysleeper
Daysleeper
Daysleeper

16 thoughts on “My Gen X Playlist: Daysleeper – REM”

  1. That’s so funny! I’m sure that has happened to a lot of us. Just last Saturday, I woke up and thought it was Tuesday. Now that it is Tuesday, I wish it was really Saturday!
    I’m glad your coworkers were understanding and had a good laugh about it.

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  3. I’m currently studying POV in my creative writing class, so now im analyzing who writes in what perspective and see that you do yours in the first person. It’s effective in encouraging empathy or relation to what the story is telling, for sure. I enjoy reading it!

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  4. Ha! Great story. I think I did that at least once in my career, though it was the other way around… getting ready to go to work when it was a day off. I got a lot of puzzled looks. The song only sounds vaguely familiar. 1998 was a busy year of transitions.

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    1. Hey, misery always enjoys company. I’m glad to hear I wasn’t the only one! I’m not sure how much airplay this one got. REM is one of my favorite bands, especially back then and I had their CDs playing all the time.

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      1. Yes, true, it does!

        They were a favourite for me, too, but I guess mainly earlier on, since a lot of their later stuff is unfamiliar to me (other than what made it to the airwaves).

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  5. I completely skip days, is that normal? I’m either a day or two behind or ahead. There was one New Year where I went to work and I had taken leave. And my colleagues didn’t even mention that it was my off, lol. A little too productive eh.

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  6. Ooops! 😂
    It’s ok…it happens. I woke up one day and thought it was Monday. I dressed up and all…just to realize that it was Sunday lol 😂

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