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Cover of I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning by Bright Eyes — Cover: I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning

Song · Bright Eyes

“First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes

From the album I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (2005)

“First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes appears on 17 radio countdowns from 7 stations between 2005 and 2026. It was first released in 2005 on the album I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. Its best result is #57 on the BBC 6 Music 100 Best Tracks Of The Last 10 Years. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #689 alternative song of 2005.

17countdowns

7stations

#57best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

2005–2026years charted

Watch

Bright Eyes - First Day of My Life [Official Music Video]

Video from YouTube (Saddle Creek). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"First Day of My Life" is the tender heart of I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, the 2005 Bright Eyes album, and about as unguarded as Conor Oberst gets. He wrote it alone, and the band produced it themselves with Mike Mogis recording and mixing, keeping it quiet and close: guest Jesse Harris on guitar, guest Tim Luntzel on bass, and Oberst's cracked, plainspoken voice sounding like a love letter read aloud.

John Cameron Mitchell's video sat couples and single people on a couch, headphones on, simply listening, and its gay and lesbian couples earned it a Special Recognition at the 2006 GLAAD Media Awards. Pitchfork later put it at 266 in its ranking of the decade's top tracks, and it has drifted through films, TV episodes and commercials ever since.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
2005	77	Triple J Australia (national)	Triple J Hottest 100 of 2005	100

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
2009	226	WYEP	WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade	913
2009	526	WYEP	WYEP 913 Essential Songs	913
2009	566	WXPN	WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009)	885
2013	57	BBC Radio 6 Music	BBC 6 Music 100 Best Tracks Of The Last 10 Years	100
2013	195	WXPN	WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013)	885
2018	704	The Current	The Current's 893 Essential Songs	892
2020	1175	WXPN	WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time	2020
2022	113	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 2000s	907
2022	158	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time	1055
2023	248	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time	909
2024	207	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs of the 21st Century	1055
2024	136	WXPN	WXPN The 885 Greatest Songs of the 21st Century (2024)	885
2025	94	The Current	893 Essential Songs of The Current: 2005 to Now	893
2025	91	90.9 The Bridge	90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the 21st Century	909
2025	408	WYEP	WYEP Best Songs of the 21st Century (So Far)	714
2026	148	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound	1055

Also listed as: First Day Of My Life.

Charting alongside it in 2005

Best songs of 2005 →

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