Arizona, here's 15 songs for your continued dismissal of daylight savings time

There's a few undeniable truths about Arizona: 1) our haboobs are no joke; 2) we simply adore vanity license plates; and 3) we don't adhere to daylight savings time. Some of those answers are more obvious than others — 'cause the plates are darling, that's why — but the daylight savings thing has thrown people for decades.

The long and short of it is our climate: Whereas other places spring forward and fall back, Arizona's mighty heat pretty much negates any potential energy benefits. Plus, when we did follow daylight savings pre-1967, it meant 9 p.m. sunsets, and who in the heck wants to wait around that long for anything?

But yours truly has seen both sides of the daylight savings coin. Having spent a few years each in Austin and Chicago, I've seen the supposed benefits of changing the clock and not changing the clock. And, frankly, even if there are some benefits to the "tradition," daylight savings can still take a long walk off a very short pier.

So, in the spirit of a perpetually upturned nose at daylight savings time, we've assembled yet another playlist. This one is full of songs that capture the frustration, irritation and general angst, and why Arizona is ahead of the times in ignoring this trite tradition. Songs that say to the rest of the country, "No clock or rules will be our master, and we live in the sun free and unbothered."

Take that, George Hudson.

Three Days Grace, ‘I Hate Everything About You’

Admittedly, this is an especially heavy-handed way to start off this list. Still, if you really hate seeing the needless confusion perpetuated by daylight savings time every year, you too would throw on some early 2000s nu metal and just feel all your sharpest teenage angst. Because sometimes letting your anger have the spotlight really clarifies certain feelings about people, events, ideas, etc. Say it with me now...

Johnny Cash, ‘Dirty Old Egg-Sucking Dog’

You might look at this article and say, "Chris, can you really hate a concept like daylight savings time?" And I'll say if Johnny Cash himself can write a beloved song about some mangy dog that eats chickens, you can allow yourself to really hate something no matter how silly, weird, etc. that might feel. If anything, hating something petty like this is maybe healthier than hating a person or group (unless it's pro-daylight savings folks).

Olivia Rodrigo, ‘bad idea right?’

Yes, I did pick this great Rodrigo single because it has "bad idea" in the title. At the same time, though, the song is about trying your best to not do something dumb and hoping you make the right choice instead. Rodrigo isn't so lucky by the song's end, but maybe we can all do better when it comes to fighting the scourge of daylight savings even as change is hard and a switch over might be complicated. I believe in all of us!

JoJo, ‘Leave (Get Out)’

Again, maybe this is another obvious choice. However, if the anti-daylight savings movement can really take off, then it needs a proper anthem. And this one is basically perfect: It's catchy and memorable with a solid hook, and the message is so simple and direct that nobody could get lost in the nuance. Maybe this heartbreak anthem wasn't intended for such purposes, but you'd be surprised to hear that daylight savings is like a terrible recurring ex for much of the country.

John Waite, ‘Change’

What Waite's anthem does is highlight why change is so hard, and how people get locked into perpetuating visions or ideals about themselves. Sure, that sounds way too serious for this debate, but I'd argue that to fight engrained practices, you have to know that it's often a knock-down, drag-out fight. But this fight is worth it if we can collectively stop doing dumb things just because there's some lame-o precedent attached. Boo history!

Pink Floyd, ‘Time’

Roger Waters allegedly wrote this song to explore his own feelings about the passage of time and getting older. When I hear the song, it reminds of how small we all are, and how we're tumbling like bits of fuzz in the lint trap of the universe. So why don't we control the time we can and stop yielding to archaic practices? Enough of life is already "blink and it's gone," so we deserve to be masters of the clock we use to manage and regulate our daily lives.

Kamehameha Schools Children’s Chorus, ‘Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī’

Arizona isn't the only state that's sidestepped the asinine nature of daylight savings. Hawaii also has their reasons for never turning the clock forward or backward, and we deserve to acknowledge some of that camaraderie by celebrating their national anthem. It's a song of great poise and beauty, and I'm honored to have the chillest state in the Union also say, "Daylight savings, go kick rocks." We love you, Hawaii.

Weezer, ‘Troublemaker’

Even if we do have a partner in this unofficial anti-daylight saving campaign, it's still nice to celebrate Arizona's mostly maverick status. This underrated Weezer jam is both rebellious and a little silly, a solid combo that recognizes both the seriousness and the frivolity of our state's firm stance on daylight savings. Maybe not every man or state is an island, but we're still unafraid to be the weird outliers (at least for now).

Bonnie Tyler, ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’

I really only need the flimsiest of excuses to include a Bonnie Tyler song on any of these lists we assemble. But this song especially is appropriate as it's about "love's place in the dark." Or, more specifically, sunshine is all good, but there's a time to stop fighting nature and the universe and a time to embrace whatever may come in life. Daylight savings proponents will tell you otherwise, but we don't need another hour of work and one less hour for rest.

John Denver, ‘Thank God I'm a Country Boy’

There's a misunderstanding among some folks that farmers love daylight savings. Turns out, that's not exactly accurate: Many farmers were against daylight savings time even dating back to its 1918 debut. So, in honor of these fine, salt of the earth farmers (not all of whom are country folks, admittedly), we present the most downhome anthem ever recorded. Long may it remind us all about farmers, the harm of misinformation and why daylight savings stinks harder than two dozen rotten eggs.

Lin-Manuel Miranda and The Decemberists, ‘Ben Franklin's Song’

Speaking of misinformation, Benjamin Franklin is often misidentified as the "creator" of daylight savings. Rather, he instead suggested that "Parisians change their sleep schedules to save money on candles and lamp oil." So, for basically kicking off this whole charade regardless, we honor Mr. Franklin with a cheesy song from Lin-Manuel Miranda and The Decemberists. May its desecration of history and folk haunt the Founding Father forever and ever.

Gerard Butler, ‘The Music of the Night’

Admittedly, we already got the whole "life is darkness" thing covered with Bonnie Tyler. Still, this overly dramatic, wonderfully cheesy performance from Gerard Butler is a highlight. Not only from "The Phantom of the Opera," but in the canon of songs that I call "making nighttime sound super dark and awesome." You know, those ditties that remind you, once again, night rules and earlier sunrises are dumb. That, and standard time helps foster a natural "relationship" with the dark and why should we have ever deviated? Plus, Butler just looks damn good in that mask.

We Are Scientists, ‘Rules Don’t Stop’

You can basically lump this along with Weezer in the category of celebrating weirdo rebels. But this song also has the genius line, "I disregard this kind of problem all the time." And while that doesn't have anything directly to do with daylight savings, it's a reminder that you can just ignore or side-step dumb problems for a better world. Or, being a rebel is easy when you already know that life's many rules and regulations are plain dumb. You can't stop this train, folks!

Olivia Newton-John, ‘Heart Attack’

I'm not just some nut who hates daylight savings because it's dumb and confusing. Per The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, daylight savings time often carries an increase in the national rate of heart attacks, stroke and traffic accidents. So, could I have just used any song about "heart attacks" to make my point how this very concept is dangerous and harmful? Sure, but I also want to be right and listen to Olivia Newton-John at the same dang time. Sue me.

USA for Africa, ‘We Are The World’

It didn't take long for "We Are the World" to get released and then become this beacon of pop's hacky, indulgent qualities. (The song debuted March 7, 1985, so maybe by March 8, 1985?) But the song's not bad per se, and it'd be nice to repurpose this song as "We Are the World — And We Hate Daylight Savings." You know, really give all this emotional bile a positive spin and get people on board. If they could get Bob Dylan to show up, there had to be something already there.