a pop song written in d major, "manic monday" moves at a tempo of 116 beats per minute and is set in common time. the song has a sequence of g–a–d–g–a–d as its chord progression. lyrically, the song is about someone waking up from a romantic dream at six o'clock on monday morning, and facing a hectic journey to work when she would prefer to still be enjoying relaxing on sunday—her "i-don't-have-to-run day". actor rudolph valentino is referred in the first verse.