Songfacts®:

• This longing love song was written by Gary Barlow when he was 15 years old. Barlow also wrote "A Million Love Songs" and "Babe" at the same age in his childhood bedroom in the market town of Frodsham, England.
• There are two versions of "Why Can't I Wake Up With You." The first features on Take That's debut album, Take That & Party, in the form of a mushy, saxophone-swept piano ballad. The second, more well-known version appears on Take That's sophomore album, Everything Changes. For this version, Barlow decided to up the song's tempo, transforming it into a smooth, R&B-driven number that felt more in line with Take That's mature sexual image at the time.
• Both versions of "Why Can't I Wake Up With You" have music videos. The Take That & Party version is made up of backstage footage of the band on tour and in the recording studio. The Everything Changes version was directed by Liam Kan and Grant Hodgson and debuted a more erotic side to Take That. Shot in a château in Paris, it depicts the band performing the song in separate rooms. Howard Donald is seen taking a shower at one point. Meanwhile, Jason Orange reclines on a bed in nothing but an open shirt and a pair of white briefs.
• "Why Can't I Wake Up With You" was the lead single from Everything Changes. The song became Take That's highest-charting single at the time, peaking at #2 after being kept off the top spot by 2 Unlimited's techno-dance sensation "No Limit."