on the subject of first waking up...

if i'm not in a lucid dream, i don't really apprehend my alarm going off in the morning or waking up, so i usually more less jolt awake when my alarm does indeed go off at the butt crack of dawn. This sucks because I usually lose most of if not all of my reccolections of any dreams i had during the night, because I dont lay there with my eyes closed, motionless, thinking about dreams. I've tried turning down the music volume on the alarm, but it hasn't been working too well lately, anyone have any suggestions?