5 Rock Songs To Get You Out Of Bed In The Morning

Waking up can be a challenge, especially for night owls, and alarms can be just a bit too jarring when you're dead asleep. What you need is the aural equivalent of a knocker-upper, the old-timey job of knocking on windows to wake folks up (an unusual career that was made obsolete by alarm clocks). And that's exactly what a rock song is. It gets you up out of bed and gets your heart pumping, your mind cranking, and your body ready to face the day. There are a few key elements to a great "rise-and-shine" rock song, in our opinion. They include a driving beat, a gradual buildup, and lyrics that get you singing along while you're still half asleep.

We've gathered a compendium of rock songs from five different decades that fit the bill and are sure to have you up and at 'em. From the White Stripes to Bad Brains to Rage Against the Machine to the Mexican punk-prog rock band Descartes a Kant, these bangers will get you hyped. For those readers who prefer something a little less rollicking to wake up to, we've included Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill," a quieter song that still adheres to the other elements. You can't help but smile when that one comes on.

From the moment that bouncy E minor bass line hits your ears, the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" has you in its thrall. When Meg White adds her thudding snare drum beat, the song begins to build and your eyes pop open waiting for Jack White to begin singing: "I'm gonna fight 'em off / A seven-nation army couldn't hold me back." And while the track is about people gossiping, for us, the vibe is equally about getting up and out into the world to get things done, no matter what obstacles are in the way.

The song, from the band's fourth studio album, 2003's "Elephant," was a chart-topping success, helping to make the group one of the most important of the 2000s. Today, "Seven Nation Army" has become something of a sports anthem — it can be heard at Major League Baseball games and international FIFA soccer tournaments. It's also been adopted by NFL football teams, especially the Baltimore Ravens. Jack White has remarked on this, calling it "folk music" that has become ubiquitous. "It's not mine anymore," he told Conan O'Brien on a 2022 Team Coco podcast. If you're looking for a wake-up song, this is a good one. After all, how can millions of sports fans be wrong?

Sometimes you just need a cold splash of water to the face to wake up, and Bad Brains is the musical equivalent of this experience. The hugely influential Washington, D.C.-based band helped create hardcore and somehow managed to seamlessly combine punk and reggae (along with funk and metal) in one package. The song "Hired Gun" from the band's third album, 1986's "I Against I," is the wake-up song you need on those days when you just can't seem to rally.

The song starts slowly, with Gary "Dr. Know" Miller's shimmering electric guitar line, before H.R. (Paul Hudson) begins to croon, "Hired gun / Hired gun / Hired gun for sale / Hired gun on the run / He won't fail." The song builds to the two-minute mark when Miller's blistering guitar solo begins, which will have you out of bed and moving. The lyrics about being a hired gun may also hit home with all the wage earners out there. If you're in need of something even more in-your-face to get out of bed, the song "I Against I" rockets out of the starting gate with H.R. singing a mile a minute and Miller's guitar thrashing and wailing. Heck, the whole album is a wake-up call.

If you're the kind of person who likes to wake up slowly, then Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill" — from his first self-titled solo record that came out in 1977 — may be the perfect choice. With its bouncy acoustic guitar opening, it just vibrates with hope. As it goes on, it introduces the flute and synthesizer countermelody, and it continues to build and build along with a dizzying sense of joy until the chorus. Specifically the lines, "My heart going boom, boom, boom / 'Son,' he said, 'Grab your things, I've come to take you home' / Hey, back home," really bring it home. 

After this emotional release, the song begins to rise slowly again until the final chorus with the words "'Hey,' I said, 'You can keep my things, they've come to take me home,'" followed by a thunderous electric guitar and Gabriel's celebratory shouts. By the end of the song, you'll be ready to take on the day. Gabriel has said he wrote the song after a spiritual experience on Solsbury Hill in Somerset, England. "It's about being prepared to lose what you have for what you might get, or what you are for what you might be," he said (via "Origins of a Song: 202 True Inspirations Behind the World's Greatest Lyrics"). "It's about letting go."

Descartes a Kant, from Guadalajara, Mexico, is a rock band that's hard to define, combining post-punk, art rock, theater, and elements of prog rock. Needless to say, the resulting sound is unique, and it immediately draws you in and holds on tight. The band's fourth studio release, "After Destruction," is a concept album dealing with existential conflicts triggered by contemporary life, a subject perhaps not surprising for a band with two philosophers in its name. The song "After Destruction" comes near the end of the album, and it's a great track for getting you out of bed.

It begins with a fast-paced syncopated hi-hat and bass drum before a crunchy, fuzzy guitar joins in. When Sandrushka Petrova begins to sing — "We are uncertainty / Searching for certainty / If the world / If the world / If the world wants to break I'll scream" — you know you're in for a sonic rollercoaster as she goes from growl to howl. The song includes quick tempo changes, a layered sound, swirling synths, and a St. Vincent-esque guitar break that will get your brain into gear and your heart in the right place with the repeated chorus, "There will be creation after destruction, you'll see."

We end our list of rock songs to get you out of bed with an aptly titled "Wake Up" from Rage Against the Machine, one of the most important rock bands of the 1990s. The song begins with Tom Morello's guitar intro, an homage to Jimmy Page's playing on Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir," and just keeps building. When Zack de la Rocha enters, spitting knowledge about the FBI's targeting of Black leaders in the 1960s and how things hadn't changed since that time, you can viscerally feel his righteous anger. 

The song, from the band's self-titled first studio album in 1992, has an epic feel thanks in part to Morello's various unique guitar sounds and its time and tempo changes. The song ends with de la Rocha's screaming "wake up" over and over amid Morello's squealing guitar noise, which should be enough to get anyone out of bed. While all the songs on this list are worth listening to at any time of the day or night, they all do a stellar job as a substitute alarm clock to get your day started in the right way.