# NASA Wake Up Songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [April 8, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119 "2026-04-08T16:26:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/41 "2026-04-09T15:45:59Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1vKtz1QFMhA/hqdefault.jpg "Van Halen reference on Back to the Future") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vKtz1QFMhA) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/42 "2026-04-09T16:09:40Z")
As long as it started cold without warning and was loud, I’d pick Chop Suey, which starts with a sudden “WAKEUP!” I used to have a cassette player alarm clock, where I could set an alarm for either a beep or to automatically start to play a cassette. Unfortunately, I could hear the cassette start before the music started. I _tried_ to play “Wake Up, It’s 1984” by Oingo Boingo as my wake up music, since it also starts with a sudden “WAKE UP!”, but hearing the tape spool up before the song started was anticlimactic. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/43 "2026-04-09T16:38:36Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qaC0vNLdLvY/hqdefault.jpg "Raymond Scott - Powerhouse [mp3]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaC0vNLdLvY) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/44 "2026-04-09T19:01:58Z")
I have always liked Powerhouse, it shows up in a lot of cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/45 "2026-04-09T20:14:31Z")
And, if you’re a Rush fan, in “La Villa Strangiato”. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/46 "2026-04-09T20:57:13Z")
Backwater by Meat Puppets [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZGbva-0zmb8/maxresdefault.jpg "Meat Puppets - Backwater HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGbva-0zmb8) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2026, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/47 "2026-04-09T23:57:52Z")
It’s the first time I’ve ever heard either the first or final third of the piece, which I suspect is true of most other people. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/48 "2026-04-10T00:47:06Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Katrina & The Waves - Walking On Sunshine Sunshine is the name of (what used to be) a working-class suburb here (originally, home to the Sunshine Harvester factory complex). And there was a version of that song, “Walking through Sunshine” about walking through Sunshine in my trackie dacks and ugg boots. Part of the sound of my youth. Lost in time. Like tears in rain. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/49 "2026-04-10T01:06:17Z")
If they were much older astronauts, Nat “King” Cole’s _Get Out And Get Under The Moon_ would work. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/50 "2026-04-10T01:47:46Z")
Search your memory banks; that piece of music was used quite a bit in the Roadrunner cartoons (and maybe whenever Tasmanian Devil showed up.) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/51 "2026-04-10T01:55:14Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Backwater by Meat Puppets Or Lake of Fire, which mentions howling at the moon. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/52 "2026-04-10T01:55:56Z")
The middle third was used in a LOT of Warner Bros. cartoons, and at least one episode of _ **The Simpsons** _: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-DKCFjm0DvE/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AGMBYAC4AOKAgwIABABGDcgUyh_MA8=&rs=AOn4CLC0m4aHFbnExI6KacG-jmDYn7TiYA "Where The Pins Go (The Simpsons)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DKCFjm0DvE) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/53 "2026-04-10T02:11:16Z")
Here’s a compilation clip that uses the first and third parts: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/r3FLN0iQ9SQ/hqdefault.jpg "Raymond Scott POWERHOUSE in LOONEY TUNES") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3FLN0iQ9SQ) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2026, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/54 "2026-04-10T02:58:16Z")
For most of last year my alarm clock wake up song was LCD Soundsystem’s _Dance Yrself Clean_. Originally it just popped up at random one morning on my Spotify playlist but it is the perfect wake up song. It quietly taps along and then, when you really should be getting up, really unwinds. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZNkPA\_zUd4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZNkPA_zUd4) ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2026, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/55 "2026-04-11T06:24:16Z")
My first thought was “Stigmata” by Ministry. A song like that would wake me up, wake my crewmates up and also show any Klingons that might be on the ship that we are not to be messed with. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2026, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/56 "2026-04-11T06:54:17Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Katrina & The Waves - Walking On Sunshine They later went on to win the Eurovision Song Contest for the UK, with a song that might have been appropriate for this mission (nuts to them as might think it too woke or something daft like that) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KwLBCKA5-ls/maxresdefault.jpg "Katrina & The Waves - Love Shine A Light | United Kingdom 🇬🇧 | Winner of Eurovision 1997") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwLBCKA5-ls) ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119/57 "2026-04-17T09:16:08Z")
Now if there was an astronaut called Susan… [Everly Brothers - Wake Up Little Susie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LojqhHnmyvc&list=RDLojqhHnmyvc&start_radio=1) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-wake-up-songs/1029119.md?page=2)