Welcome to Part 5 of our Prythian Court series! This week , we're going to be looking at the playlist I made for The Dawn Court, our first Solar Court that is ruled over by High Lord Thesan.
We don't have a huge amount of knowledge regarding Dawn yet. Thesan appears to be just as powerful as you'd expect a High Lord to be and possesses healing powers which is pretty sick. The Dawn Court itself is described as being beautiful and elegant and not, as someone might expect, "trapped" in a perpetual morning. The Solar Courts experience all the seasons and a normal day cycle, but if you're visiting Dawn you'll notice you've never seen as glorious of a sunrise anywhere else you've ever been.
Like the others, I've done my best to capture the essence of the Dawn Court on this playlist, not necessarily adding a bunch of songs that remind me of Thesan, and for whatever reason this playlist was more difficult than the others to curate. If you haven't read the books, this series may be a little confusing for you, but my remedy for that is to either read them or to just enjoy the playlists for what they are.
Below is a sampling of my Dawn Court Playlist, which as always is too long to be compressed into a single post. You can check out the full list by following me on Apple Music @audioaesthetics. Disclaimer: I do not own any character or property listed below, I'm just a huge fan and love to make playlists for my favorite fandoms.
Morning Sun by Bad Company (written by P. Rodgers)
Featured on Bad Company's 1977 album Burnin' Sky, this song talks about all of those classic things associated with morning time. From the sunrise peeking through the window to waiting for the night to end, it's a nice rock song to listen to early in the day. I also like that the album title can paint a mental picture of a sunrise as well.
The morning sun comes thru my window/All night long, I have been waiting/We who are constantly moving/Leaving part of us behind/She moves across the room with easy grace/Mona Lisa smiles upon her face/I who am completely mesmerized/By the sunlight in her eyes
Pink Venom by BLACKPINK (written by J. Hun-Seol, D. Chung, I. Zmishlany, K. Jung-gu, T. Park)
Featured on BLACKPINK's 2022 album BORN PINK, this song has one of the primary colors of a sunrise right there in the title. Pink, orange, blue, purple, even silver help create the canvas for many a morning and make them absolutely beautiful. This is a great song to help wake you up in the morning as well and get hyped to start and conquer your day (a translation of the original Korean lyrics is below).
Kick in the door, waving the coco’/Don't even think about packing popcorn/I talk that talk, runways I walk-walk/Close your eyes, pop-pop, pretend not to see/One by one, then two by two/Everything is falling apart at the touch of my fingertips/For a fake show, it was flashy/Makes no sense, you couldn't get a dollar out of me/Now, tonight, I'm a poisonous flower/After stealing your soul, look what you made us do/The fire that will slowly put you to sleep/It's so beautiful that it's cruel, I bring the pain like/This that pink venom, this that pink venom, this that pink venom, get 'em, get 'em, get 'em/Straight to ya dome like whoa-whoa-whoa, straight to ya dome like ah-ah-ah/Taste that pink venom, taste that pink venom, taste that pink venom, get 'em, get 'em, get 'em/Straight to ya dome like whoa-whoa-whoa, straight to ya dome like ah-ah-ah
Morning Has Broken by Cat Stevens (written by E. Farjeon)
Featured on Stevens's 1971 album Teaser and the Firecat, this traditional hymn is often played at funerals, but that doesn't necessarily make it a sad song. The lyrics are all about how mornings are new beginnings for our lives and to be thankful for each day that dawns. I love Stevens's vocals on this one, as well as the beautiful piano line underlying the whole song.
Morning has broken like the first morning/Blackbird has spoken like the first bird/Praise for the singing, praise for the morning/Praise for them springing fresh from the world/Sweet the rains new fall, sunlit from Heaven/Like the first dewfall on the first grass/Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden/Sprung in completeness where His feet pass
Waiting For The Sunrise by Death Cab for Cutie (written by Y. Ono)
Featured on DCFC's 2022 album Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono, this Yoko Ono cover is all about that oh so important sunrise. When you have those nights that just won't seem to end, just remind yourself that a sunrise is coming to usher in a new day. Sunrises are like the guardians of the day, welcoming us to a new chapter of our life to start anew.
Waiting for the sunrise/Waiting for the sunrise/Waiting for the sunrise/Waiting for the sunrise/So I can take your hand and stroll about/Waiting for the sunrise/Waiting for the sunrise/Waiting for the sunrise/Waiting for the sunrise/So we can go on the streets and see the people smile/Give me your hand so I can tell you/Things will be alright/The room's still dark, but it won't be so long /And I can take you outside
Sunrise In the Morning by Frank Sinatra (written by P. Ryan)
Featured on Sinatra's 1971 album Sinatra & Company, this song keeps up our motif of dawns bringing about new beginnings. Sinatra sings about continuing on a love that began the night before now that it's the next day, hoping to start something new and beautiful. Plus, starting the morning off listening to Sinatra's incredible vocals is a pretty good way to begin the day.
And on that dawn just when the day was breaking/I saw your face everywhere/And on that morning, love was in the making/I heard your voice, I hear music, I've no care/Sunrise in the morning, stay awhile, you know that I'll/Be thinking of you now and everyday/Make it worth my while, I'll see that you will always smile/And never stray, you stay baby, I'll pray
Saturday Morning (Live) by Harry Chapin (written by T. Chapin)
Featured on Chapin's 1976 album Greatest Stories - Live, this song is another lovely example of classic morning tropes. I like in this one how he addresses that not only is morning the beginning of a new story, it's also the end of a previous one. Chapin does some nice stuff vocally, making this song plenty fun to listen to.
Saturday morning and it's growing light/I look out my window and remember the night/A story is starting and this story ends/And I feel like I need you again/Time used to move softly when I was at home/It went on without me, and left me alone/Now it sits at my shoulder and claws at my peen/And I feel like I need you again/Ooh, a song needs a reason and rhyme/Ooh, my love needs a little more time
Sunrise by Morgan Wallen (written by J. Byron, B. Pendergrass)
Featured on Wallen's 2023 album One Thing At A Time, this song has the defining feature of dawn right up top: a sunrise. Those of us that aren't morning people don't get to see too many sunrises, but the ones we do are typically breathtaking. I like the metaphor Wallen makes here that his ex is like a sunrise - always coming up.
On my Fridays when it's whiskey, I go back to Cincy/That Ohio night you tricked me into buyin' all your shots/Got your ghost up in my Chevy, shotgun lookin' ready/For them parties where you'd let me spin you 'round and show you off/I been tryin' to get away from you for a while now/But there ain't no settin' you down/You're my sunrise, you keep comin' up/You're in every conversation, every smoky situation/If it's water, if it's whiskey in my cup/You're the memories I'm drinkin', you're the thoughts I'm always thinkin', girl/It don't matter how far I run, you're the one that I can't run from/Used to be my late nights, loved me 'til the daylights/Now you're just my sunrise, you keep comin' up, you keep comin' up/You keep comin', you keep comin'
Prayin' For Daylight by Rascal Flatts (written by R. Giles, S. Bogard)
Featured on Rascal Flatts's 2000 album Rascal Flatts, this song by one of my personal favorite bands talks about those long nights praying for the morning to come. As lead vocalist Gary Levox sings, "this is just the dark before the dawn." Mornings can be rough or a blessing when we go through difficult seasons, but each one means a brand new day to keep on going.
I’ve got the lights turned up/The door is locked, the bedroom TV's on/Doin' the only thing/That gets me through the night since you've been gone/Prayin' for daylight, waitin' for that mornin' sun/So I can act like my whole life ain't goin' wrong/Baby, come back to me, I swear I'll make it right/Don't make me spend another lonely night prayin' for daylight
House of the Rising Sun by The Animals (arranged by A. Price)
Featured on The Animals' 1963 album Retrospective, this song may be one of the first in many people's minds when asked to think about songs with sunrise, morning, or the like in the title. Now while this song is, of course, written about a man's life falling to absolute shit in New Orleans, that addition of the Rising Sun gets it a spot on this playlist. This song is also an absolute banger, so anytime you get to listen to it is awesome.
There is a house in New Orleans/They call the Rising Sun/And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy/And God, I know I'm one/My mother was a tailor/She sewed my new blue jeans/My father was a gamblin' man/Down in New Orleans
Angel of the Morning by The Pretenders (written by C. Taylor)
Released as a single by The Pretenders in 1994, this song kind of gives off aesthetic vibes for how SJM describes the Dawn Court to me. The whole song feels like it's full of that soft morning light, not too harsh and gently ushering in the new day. Fun fact, lead singer Chrissie Hynde actually played the acoustic version of this when she guest starred as Stephanie in Season 2 of Friends.
There'll be no strings to bind your hands/Not if my love can bind your heart/And there's no need to take a stand/For it was I who chose to start/I see no reason to take me home/I’m old enough to face the dawn/Just call me angel of the morning, angel/Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby/Just call me angel of the morning, angel/Then slowly turn away from me
I hope you found some great new songs to add to your morning playlist. Happy listening, and see ya'll next week!
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